Daniel Vettori - Richie, Paddles, Kaps, Nass and I

First international wicket
Nasser Hussain in Wellington, February 1997. It set in straight away; you always remember your first Test wicket.

First purchase using money earned from cricket
After being in international cricket for a while, the first thing I bought was a car - a Commodore. But I seldom drive it, since I'm away with cricket for six months of the year at least.

First autograph taken as a youngster
I only ever took one. Kapil Dev's at the Richard Hadlee testimonial match in Hamilton. Ewan Chatfield had hit one out of the ground, which was a rarity for him. Everyone ran on to the field while they were waiting for the ball to return, and I got Kapil's autograph.

First compliment from a legend
Richie Benaud has always been full of praise for me ever since I stepped on to the international scene.

First hero
Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricket's first-ever superstar. He was the person you saw the most. He always performed irrespective of the situation.

Read More

VVS Laxman - A wristy meeting

First souvenir I treasured
On my first international tour, to South Africa in 1996, the team had the opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela, and that photograph finds lead space on the mantelpiece.

First cricket hero I met
As a young Hyderabadi I used to read about [Mohammad] Azharuddin. Once, during a Hyderabad under-15 practice session, he too came to the ground to practise. It was really exciting to see him practise with such intensity. It left a big impression.

First advertisement
Back in 2001 for Pepsi. That was the first time I did a shoot. It involved working with Cyrus Broacha, who is really funny.

First bat
An SG bat, which was given to me by my uncle when I was ten. My first international bat was a Vampire, with whom I had a contract at that time. I scored my maiden fifty with that bat.

First time I was scared on a cricket pitch
When Vinod Kambli got injured in the Cuttack ODI in 1997-98. It was a bad injury - he twisted his ankle. It was damn scary.

Read More

Mahendra Dhoni - Motorcycle diaries

It's about the bike

First hairdo
My first hairstyle was pretty much the same from nursery through high school. It was more of a fringe style with the hair falling onto my forehead. I grew it long for the first time when I started playing for India A. I let it grow for one year, and then started trimming it.

First bat
I never bought my bats, my school provided them. The first one was a Sunny Tonny brand.

First six I hit in international cricket
I played only two balls and hit one six in my third one-day international. It was against Bangladesh, when I hit the first ball I faced over the long-off fence.

First bike
I was madly in love with this one bike even if I didn't own it then. It was the RD-350 CC, which I used to ride in my dreams. That roar had something about it. I have two RDs now. I don't even know the first motorbike I bought with my money, but RD was the first bike I really wanted.

First poster I put up
I didn't really put posters up on my walls. But if you opened my wardrobe door you would find a small poster of a Suzuki Hayabusa.

Read More