“Keep smiling always” - Sachin Tendulkar wishes buddy Vinod Kambli on his 49th birthday

Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar wished his old pal and former teammate Vinod Kambli a happy birthday, as the latter turned 49 on Monday.

Tendulkar took to Twitter to send his wishes to his friend. He wished Vinod Kambli a ‘blessed year full of health and happiness’.

The Master Blaster’s post was accompanied with a mischievous picture of the duo, perfectly capturing their camaraderie.

Wishing you a very happy birthday @vinodkambli349! Have a blessed year full of health & happiness. Keep smiling always. 😃 pic.twitter.com/EDph2eeTQO

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 18, 2021

Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli go a long way back. At school, they featured in a mammoth 664-run stand in a Harris Shield semifinal match, turning out for Shardhashram Vidyamandir in February 1988.

The stand was the then world record partnership for any wicket in any class of cricket.

Both Tendulkar and Kambli went on to play for India, but with contrasting degrees of success. While Tendulkar began sedately, he gradually progressed to become one of India’s finest.

On the other hand, the eccentric Vinod Kambli’s international career began with a bang, but ended in a whimper.

The former southpaw scored two double hundreds very early in his career in 1993, but ended up playing his last Test just a couple of years later.

Despite being outrageously talented, Vinod Kambli ended up playing only 17 Tests and 104 ODIs, scoring 1084 and 2477 runs respectively.

When Vinod Kambli smashed a hundred on his 21st birthday

Vinod Kambli features in the lucky list of international cricketers who have scored a hundred on their birthday. The aggressive ex-cricketer achieved the feat on January 18, 1993 against England at Jaipur in an ODI.

India batted first in the game and Vinod Kambli returned unbeaten on exactly 100 from 149 balls. He hit nine fours and a six during the innings.

18th Jan 1993, Jaipur@vinodkambli349 scored his first ODI century on his birthday as he made 100 Not Out v England. He was involved in an unbroken 164 run partnership with none other than @sachin_rt who scored 82*(81).Sachin's knock I had already posted, here's Kambli's ton. pic.twitter.com/ANoGht1lBu

— Mainak Sinha🏏📽️ (@cric_archivist) August 21, 2020

Tendulkar also scored an impressive 82 not out from 81 balls. Vinod Kambli and Tendulkar featured in an unbeaten stand of 164 for the fourth wicket as India recovered from 59 for 3 to post a competitive 223 for 3.

However, Kambli and Tendulkar’s efforts went in vain as Alec Stewart’s 91 saw England chase down the target with four wickets in hand.

Incidentally, five years later, Tendulkar slammed an ODI century on his 25th birthday in the Coca Cup final against Australia at Sharjah.

Tendulkar’s knock came in a winning cause signifying that the luck factor, among many other things, perhaps deserted Vinod Kambli in his international career.