Updated 30 June 2025 at 11:23 IST
'Sachin Tendulkar And I Will Make Money Playing Test Cricket': Vinod Kambli's Friend Narrates Unheard Tale
There was no doubt that Vinod Kambli was an extremely confident person when he was young. Some even reckoned that he may have been a more gifted batter than Sachin Tendulkar.
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Vinod Kambli after being dismissed | Image:
ANI
In the late 80s, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli were the talk of the town for their batsmanship. Everyone who knew them at that point reckoned they were cut out for big things. But while Tendulkar went onto represent India for over two decades and retired as one of the biggest legends of the game, Kambli's journey was not quite similar.
Dream Start For Kambli
Left-handed Kambli's career got off to a dream start as he smashed two double centuries in his first four Test matches, a feat he achieved against England and Zimbabwe.
In fact, he still remains the only player in the world to achieve this. These double centuries were part of a larger run of four centuries in his first six Test matches.
But then, indiscipline lifestyle, partying and drinking led to his downfall as he could not handle the fame coming his way. His focus from the game was gone, and soon found himself out of the national squad.
Years later, Kambli is often in the limelight nowadays for his deteriorating health.
Solly Adam, the person who gave Tendulkar his first contract was like a father figure to Kambli. He recently said how an Kambli turned down a part-time job as he was confident about that he along will Tendulkar will earn money playing Tests for India.
‘I and Sachin will make money playing Test cricket’
"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 IE.
In 17 Tests and 104 ODIs, Kambli amassed 1084 and 2477 runs respectively. This includes a total of six centuries - two in ODIs and four in Tests.
Published 30 June 2025 at 11:12 IST