Anderson Cummins has a small request as one approaches him for a post-cool down interview at the end of the exhaustive World Cup warm-up game against Pakistan. It isn’t about avoiding any tricky question related to his switching loyalty to Canada, but the former West Indian pacer has a very modest pre-condition. “We can only do it if we can sit somewhere,” says the 40-year-old father of four as he wishes to give some rest to his heavily-strapped knee that’s taking the burden of his huge frame all day. As he settles down on the university ground and instinctively caresses the grass below he can’t help but get emotional as in more than one way he is touching his roots again. “I have been having conversations with fans all day and the response has been very positive. Despite my shift, they wish me well and want me to do well. Actually, it is surprising that so many guys remember me — that is after they have recognised me. I have changed a lot over the years,” he says. That’s something many in India will agree with as Cummins for them was the skinny athletic lad, with a whippy action and a toothy smile who toured with the Richie Richardson side in ‘93 and Courtney Walsh in ‘94. He almost spoiled India’s party at Kolkata during the tri-series final when his 3/38 in 10 overs reduced India to 225 and it was only after Anil Kumble’s magical 6/12 that Eden Gardens got its voice back. From the 1,00,000 high-decibel atmosphere to innocuous club games and marginalised fringe international games it’s been a reverse journey, but the pro turned amateur has no regrets. “When on the field, passion takes over. The focus has to be there all the time. 1,00,000 or 10,000 or empty stands. Noisy or no noisy it doesn’t matter,” says Cummins. What matters from those days of elite company is the fact that he dismissed the best in business as his 98 international wickets from five Tests and 73 ODIs include Imran Khan, Inzamam-ul Haq, Mohammad Azharuddin, David Boon, Steve Waugh and many others. “That’s called the credibility bank. Since one is sure about one’s potential all that’s needed is to give the best on the day and also remember what one is expected to do for the team,” says the man who happens to be the odd man in that elite group of 92 World Cuppers that includes Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam, Jayasuriya and Brian Lara. After the highs, Cummins dropped out on encountering his first slump as he quit cricket as a 30-year-old to return to school and do a diploma in computer studies and later moved to Canada to work. During his six-year break from the game he played basketball and did extensive weight training. The endless hours spent at gym got him a barrel-like chest and broad shoulders inside the Canadian reds but it also meant people taking time to connect back to the skinny lad who once wore the West Indian maroons. Three years of league cricket in Canada saw him make it to the World Cup and be the self-confessed “old man” who the many rookies in the team come to listen to stories, seek advice and even ask for the night spots in West Indies. With Cummins at peace with age and fitness, he has just one aim here. He wants Canada in the second round and be at Barbados—the place where someone put up a poster ‘No Cumming, no going’ when the local boy wasn’t picked up for the Test squad and at present his son stays. “It is tough but that’s what is driving me,” he says as he effortlessly gets up from the ground despite the long sitting and the wobbly knee. His walk to the team bus fails to hide the urgency to reach home and keenness to be in the spotlight again.
