Vaibhav Maloo.
A chance conversation at a Mumbai hotel nearly two decades ago took Vaibhav Maloo from a barber's chair to a cricket dressing room alongside some of the biggest names in international cricket.
Maloo was getting a haircut at Mumbai's Trident hotel when he struck up a conversation with the late John Van Groningen, founder of Red Dust, an organisation that uses sport and other programmes to work with underprivileged children.
Van Groningen was organising a charity cricket match in Mumbai involving children, sporting personalities and cricket enthusiasts. The conversation eventually led to an invitation for Maloo to play for the Red Dust side against a team from the D.Y. Patil Sports Academy.
The Red Dust team featured former Australia captain Allan Border, Australian fast bowler Damien Fleming, former Australia women's captain Melanie Jones and former India cricketer Vinod Kambli, along with young Australian cricketers.
For Maloo, one of the few Indians representing the Red Dust side, it was an unusual opportunity to share a dressing room and the field with players he had grown up watching.
There was also plenty of cricket to be played. Border handed Maloo the ball and he went on to take the first wicket, while Kambli dropped a catch that became the subject of some friendly dressing-room banter.
"I remember Allan giving me the ball, taking the first wicket and Vinod dropping a catch, which gave us plenty to laugh about afterwards. But what stayed with me most was why we were there in the first place - the children and the experience cricket could give them," Maloo said.
For Fleming, who was part of the Red Dust side, such matches demonstrated how cricket could connect people beyond the professional game.
"Cricket has always had the ability to bring people from very different backgrounds together. Charity matches give players an opportunity to share the game in a much more personal way, particularly with young people. John understood that very well, and the work he did through Red Dust showed how sport could be used to create experiences and opportunities that stayed with people long after the match was over," Fleming said.
Maloo said Van Groningen's role in bringing the match together was something he continued to remember.
"John genuinely believed sport could open doors for children who may otherwise never have access to these experiences. I was deeply saddened to hear of his passing, and I will always remember him with gratitude. A chance conversation with him gave me a memory that has stayed with me for nearly two decades," he said.
For Maloo, the lasting memory from the match was not the wickets or the presence of international cricketers, but the excitement among children who were able to experience the game and interact with sporting personalities at close quarters.
"Sport has a unique ability to bring people together. And when you can use that ability to give children an experience they may otherwise never have had, it becomes even more meaningful," he said.
Maloo said there was scope for more initiatives that bring players, fans and children together through cricket, particularly as the sport continues to reach new audiences.
"I would like to see more charity matches that bring players, fans and children together. I am also glad that T20 cricket will be part of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. As cricket reaches new audiences, I hope we also continue using the game to create opportunities and memorable experiences for communities," he said.
According to Maloo, the spirit of the match was consistent with Van Groningen's belief that sport could be used to create opportunities and lasting memories for children.
"Giving children the opportunity to play, watch and interact with their heroes, and simply creating more days like that for them - those are the kinds of memories that can stay with a child for a lifetime," he said.
Nearly two decades later, the match remains a vivid memory for Maloo - not because it was an international fixture or involved a trophy, but because it demonstrated how a game of cricket could bring together sporting personalities, enthusiasts and children for an experience that extended beyond the boundary.
