== Will He Make Another Comeback ??? ==. Review on Vinod Kambli

Full Name - Vinod Ganpat Kambli

Born - 18th January, 1972, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Major Teams - Mumbai, India, Boland

Test Debut - India v/s England at Calcutta, 1st Test, 1992/93

ODI Debut - India v/s Pakistan at Sharjah, Wills Trophy, 1991/92

Batting - Left Hand Bat

Bowling - Right Arm off Break

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Vinod comes from a very poor family. His father was a mechanic, who worked in Bhandup, in Mumbai. They stayed in a chawl in Kanjur Marg. His dad was a good fast bowler and played against many former Mumbai players & Test cricketers. Vinod had six siblings. His parents always helped him and encouraged him to achieve his dream. Besides them the three other people who are behind Vinod?s achievements are his coach Ramakant Achrekar who helped him when he was starting on the cricketing ladder, his cousin Avinash Kadam who gave him accommodation for three years before he started playing for India and, of course, his wife, Noella, who despite all the ups and downs in his career, backed him all the time!

Vinod Kambli began his cricketing career along with Sachin Tendulkar in the same school and under the same coach. Kambli had put on a world-record unbroken 664 run partnership in a school match with Sachin. Kambli started his domestic career in grand style by hitting a six on the very first bowl he faced in Ranji Trophy. His test career (which started three years after Tendulkar?s) also started in a glittering manner, with him hitting 2 double tons and 2 single tons in his first 7 test matches.

His footwork was amazing against the spinners and the lofted shot he played against them was a treat to watch. He once smashed Shane Warne for 22 runs in an over. The main drawback of his batting was his inability against the short ball. However, he has worked on it. He played as a professional cricketer for Natal and the experience of playing on the South African pitches helped him overcome this flaw. In fact, now he can pull the ball very well against the medium pacers. But if he manages to get back in the Indian team again, his biggest challenge will be to erase the tag of 'minnow basher', since he reserved his highest scores for 1990's easy beats Zimbabwe and England.

Nine batting grips was yet another unique hallmark of Vinod Kambli. Interestingly, his comebacks into the Indian one-day team have been nine as well. He made his first come back in the 1992 World Cup in Australia when he replaced the injured Shastri. His come back was short lived as he was dropped once again for the tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa. But his second come back was like a bang as he made back-to-back double centuries against England and Zimbabwe in the home-series.

This performance cemented his place in the side. May be he could not handle the success that he had achieved and then started his downslide as he was dropped for the series against the West Indies in 1994-95. His third come back was against New Zealand in 1995 but that stayed for a year as he was again dropped from the team for a tour to England after a dismal performance in the 1996 World Cup. There were a series of comebacks after that but the result was disappointing every time.

Vinod Kambli?s cricket had a Caribbean touch to it. High back lift, gaudy stroke play, colourful personality, black complexion and the passion for gold jewellery gave him more of a West Indies rather than West Indian look.

Kambli and controversies always went hand in hand. He was accused of losing temper in dressing room. There was news of him doing late nights and coming back drunk, even if there was a cricket match next day. But what made him the crowd favourite was his jolly nature and his emotion display on and off the cricket field. No one can forget how he cried when India lost the World Cup Semi Final in 1996. He once started dancing with the band when rain interrupted a match. The way he shoots the cricket ball, after taking a catch adds to the charm of his game and personality. Plus, his good sense of humour always helps in keeping the tension level low in the dressing room. To say, his popularity equals to that of Sachin certainly won?t be an overstatement.

There was a time when the cricket pundits considered him more talented than Sachin Tendulkar. Today, Sachin is top of the totem pole while Vinod is not in the Indian side. Even now he has a test average of more than 54, but his cricket career seems to have come to an immature end. It would take a very brave man to bet on Vinod Kambli making yet another comeback to the Indian team. But, if he does, be rest assured ladies and gentlemen, his last comeback maybe by far the most entertaining one!

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Test Career

Matches ? 17

Innings ? 21

Runs - 1084

Highest - 227

Average ? 54.20

100?s ? 4

50?s ? 3

One Day International Career

Matches ? 104

Innings ? 97

Runs - 2477

Highest - 106

Average ? 32.59

Strike Rate ? 71.92

100?s ? 2

50?s ? 14

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© Tanmay Singh, 2005