Vinod Kambli’s life story is often cited as a classic example of a fall from grace. Once seen as a prodigious talent and a future star of Indian cricket, Kambli’s career fizzled out due to lifestyle issues and a lack of discipline. Despite his early promise, he couldn’t sustain his place at the top level.
Last year in December, the former cricketer hit the headlines yet again this time for health issues. He was rushed to Akruti Hospital in Thane suffering from a urinary infection and pain stomach cramps. The news filled the cricket fraternity with worry, and several big names came forward to make monetary contributions.
Kambli, who had a close friendship with the great cricketer Sachin Tendulkar right from their childhood, played for India in 104 One-Day Internationals and 17 Test matches. The childhood cricketing life of the duo is well documented, but a lesser-heard anecdote from their England days came to the fore recently.
In 1992, Sachin was the first foreign player to be signed by Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Interestingly enough, Kambli was in England already then, playing club cricket and allegedly earning a good name in the local circuit.
Solly Adams, the person responsible for bringing Sachin to Yorkshire, told The Indian Express recently about an anecdote. As told by Adams, Kambli had at some point refused a part-time offer of employment during his time in England. Another friend from those days, Nasa Hussain, also shared an account of Kambli’s incredible ability and how he had made his mark playing club cricket.
Though his international career didn’t reach the heights once expected, Kambli’s story continues to be a reminder of both the potential he showed and the pitfalls that came with it.
“One day we were sitting, 10 cricketers. All of them had part-time jobs except for Vinod and Sachin. So a cricketer from Mumbai asked Vinod – ‘Since you only earn 25 pound a match, why don’t you work at one of Solly’s places? Kambli didn’t think for a minute, pat came his reply: ‘I and Sachin will make money playing Test cricket, I don’t want to divert my attention doing part-time jobs.’ That was exceptional, what confidence. He was very young, far from being a Test batsman but he had the confidence,” Solly told Indian Express.
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“Vinod, when he returned to India, took all the money from his father and spent it with his friends … Vinod never cared about money, nor did he have any respect for commodities,” he added.
“As a South Asian, Sachin joining Yorkshire was big news. I’ll tell you what was better, he brought along with him his friend Vinod Kambli, who played in our league. I’ve never-ever met a person who hits the ball as hard as he used to,” Nasa Hussain told The Indian Express.
“He just ran down the track and hits the first ball for six, and you think, ‘well okay’. Young man from India, never seen before, never heard of before, and he just comes and smashes it. Subsequently, he went on to score two double-hundreds against England. That was some talent. In today’s day and age, that guy would have been a multi-millionaire,” he added.
