Christchurch: Terming the brand of cricket Indians play as "exciting", coach John Wright on Tuesday said such style was absolutely vital for world cricket.

"It is important for world cricket that India keeps playing its brand of cricket which is so exciting," he said at the National Bank sponsors launch of the international summer. Wright, who has been the coach of the Indian team for the past two years, expressed his gratitude for the support extended by the fans in India and said his association with the team was "extremely fruitful." "The love and affection our players carry from people back home is surprising. It has to be one of the best loved teams in the world of sport," he said. Pointing out that New Zealand have produced great cricketers in the past, Indian team Manager N R Choudhary said that Wright would have a tough task during the series. "Our boys have been very busy over the past few months and John (Wright) has a tough task here," he said. New Zealand Cricket's chief Martin Snedden expressed happiness that the pay dispute was solved and cricket was finally on the cards. The Indian tour of New Zealand was threatened following a pay dispute between the New Zealand Cricket officials and top players. Snedden recounted the exploits of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar during his first tour of the country in 1990, while welcoming the Indian team. Tendulkar, who was 16- year-old then, could have become the youngest cricketer to score a Test century, but was caught by the current Indian coach of paceman Danny Morrison on 88. "Tendulkar is now one of the world's best and with possibly another 10 years ahead of him was set to break all sorts of records," Snedden said. Indians open the tour with a Super Max game against a home team on Wednesday evening. Extras:
Intriguing battle awaits Indians in tour opener
Bond gears up to unsettle mentally strong Indians