Mumbai Maidans to Nisshin: Japan's cricket coach Vinay Iyer's journey comes full circle

Vinay Iyer's dream of playing alongside Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara had only a fleeting life.

But come Friday, the former Mumbai club cricketer will be part of top-flight cricket during the Asian Games women's quarterfinal between India and Japan here.

Vinay will be wearing the hat of Japan's head coach.

"It will be a great occasion, for sure. Everyone is excited and, hopefully, we can give them a good fight," Vinay told Japan Cricket Association's YouTube channel.

The 41-year-old, who reached Japan through a work visa from his current diamond trading company, Rosy Blue,e in 2013, still has not snapped his umbilical cord with Mumbai.

"I used to always dream of playing once at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. I got a chance eventually. I was picked for an Under-19 Zonal match (West Zone) and the opposition had Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma.

"They were in the Under-17 category then. Even then, people were saying that Pujara would be the next Rahul Dravid and the way he batted, it was like — I have so many things to learn from this guy. He was smacking everyone.

"Even Rohit was hitting, and he used to hit sixes outside the stadium. So that was one highlight match, which I really remember. Happy to have played against these two guys," Vinay reminisced.

The Mumbai man said he owed everything in his career so far to the fabled Maidans of Mumbai.

"Where I started near my home, that was called the Central Maidan. It's a bit far from proper Mumbai. Then we moved on to the proper Maidans in Mumbai.

"Then I played for different clubs, different tournaments like the Kanga League, different coaches, etc. But that time everything for me was in those Maidans," he said.

The job as an Enterprise Resource Planning consultant with Rosy Blue might have made Japan his home right now. But the lessons from Maidans have not left him.

Vinay had a phenomenal outing in the Japan Cricket League (JCL) with Max CC, taking the player of the year award in 2016, and it rekindled his cricketing journey.

In 2020, he won the Tokai Regional Japan Cup competition with the Kawasaki Knight Riders an, and a year later, he was the MVP of the Japan Premier League.

So, coaching was a natural progression for him from that point.

"There were several challenges. Here, a lot of cricket is still being played on mat wickets,s and regular camps are still rare. But kids here train with enthusiasm, sm and they are ready to come to the ground even very early in the morning, like 6 am.

"They don't have many facilities,s but everyone is happy and excited. That's what you look ahead as a coach," he said.

So, has he fully adjusted to Japan and its traditions and food habits?

"Yes, the people and the food over here. It's very nice. If anyone comes to Japan, I will tell them to visit Mount Fuji. It's quite beautiful.

"Yakitori (a Japanese chicken dish on skewers) is my favourite food, but I am yet to find a liking for Sushi. I know it is not a nice answer. Many people love it, but I am not able to like it.

"But we use the word Gambaro (Japanese for let's do our best) quite often on a cricket field, and it has been the motto of my life too here in Japan," he said.

Perhaps the Japan women's team too has adopted their coach's favourite word before taking the field against a star-studded India.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)