A legend not to be - Vinod Kambli

“When I see him bat in the nets, his sleek elegance and ability to find gaps in the field utmost precisely amazes me, I think this kid is gonna leave an impact on the game, a big impact” – Achrekar

When you read these lines by Achrekar, the only name that comes in every reader’s mind is that of Sachin Tendulkar. But it’s not so. These lines are for another talent, a talent that could set unconquerable standards of his own, an un-paralleled stroke maker, a man with the inborn passion and addiction for the game, a legend that was not to be - Vinod Kambli.

On February 1988, the cricketing fraternity was taken aback when two school children put together a 664 run parnership in a 4 day match to set the new first class record for the highest partnership, two new stars – a 14-year old Sachin Tendulkar and a 16-year old Vinod Kambli. Kambli remained unbeaten on 349 being the higher scorer amongst the two. Sachin and Kambli entered the first class arena almost at the same time, both made the cut by scoring heaps of runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy level and these two, without a doubt, for everyone were the ‘prospects for the future’, as recalled by a player who played against them in that record breaking innings.

“Can you imagine? We were bowling, and we just had to give up even thinking about which of the two to try getting out,” he adds, “They were our juniors—younger than us. Sachin and Vinod just let their bats do the talking. ” - recalls Jyotirmoy Saha, an entertainment industry professional in Singapore.

Vinod Kambli debuted for India at an age of 20. His introduction to the world stage was nothing short of spectacular, becoming the first Indian to convert his first Test century into a double hundred. His influence was very much required at the time when India’s batting lacked stars, and in the dynamic Kambli, the middle order had found a solid middle order batsman.

Then came the time of the big downfall. Some still call it the ‘Fall of the Titan’ when Kambli was dropped from the team in 1997 for various reasons. By then, he had played 23 test matches and had 4 centuries including 2 double centuries and 25 fifties at an average of 52.

Kambli’s international record was always mind blowing, though he was made the scapegoat for the 1996 world cup mishap, there were many other personal issues that had led to his exit from the team and his downfall. To a certain limit, it’s a true that he himself brought his own downfall. His way of living and attitude towards the authorities made him the less favoured person in a game where a player without a godfather finds it really hard, unless you are of the caliber of Sachin Tendulkar.

Kambli’ personal life issues affected his game a lot, his habits which breached the BCCI’s code of conduct kept him out of the team, he found himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons (don’t want to dig deeper into his personal life). The talent of the man which was once considered good enough to change the course of international cricket turned out to be a heartbreaking prospect for all his fans and wellwishers.

There are always a few questions that linger in the mind. Could something have been done to prevent him from going down in his life and his career? What if his talent could get him back into the field and his career sustained? Could he have been another phenomena? Could we have had another global sporting icon? If the authorities had backed him up a bit more, would it have made any difference? It’s another ‘if’ that was just not to be.