Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar shared a friendship that began at the age of 10 and spanned over two decades as teammates on the cricket field. However, their bond suffered a significant setback when Tendulkar, during an Indian reality show, accused Kambli of not standing by him during tough times. This revelation caused a rift between the two, leading to years of silence. Notably, Kambli was absent from Tendulkar’s retirement speech and a post-retirement gathering.
Despite these difficulties, the two eventually reconciled and restored their friendship. However, this wasn’t the first time Kambli’s actions had strained their relationship. Amid recent reports of Kambli’s health issues, an old anecdote shared by Sanjay Manjrekar highlights the playful yet tense dynamic between him, Kambli, and Tendulkar during the 1992 ODI World Cup.
Manjrekar, speaking to SportsKeeda three years ago, recalled an incident from the 1992 ODI World Cup when Kambli was part of India’s squad but wasn’t included in the playing XI for the initial matches. Frustrated over his exclusion, the left-hander often vented his emotions at Tendulkar and Manjrekar.
“Kambli is someone you know is a character and he was very friendly with me and Sachin. In the first few matches of the World Cup, he wasn’t playing. His mood was off; he was a bit upset. Sachin and I were the two established players so we were getting all the matches. But after every match, when we would meet, he would come after us. He would criticise; ‘What is this batting? You could have played faster’. He didn’t even spare Sachin," Manjrekar said.
Manjrekar recounted the match against Zimbabwe, where Tendulkar and he had secured victory with a solid partnership. Despite the win, Kambli still complained, saying, “It was a small target and we won the match. Despite that, in the evening, Kambli would again go like ‘The match and all is fine; but we could have won it a lot earlier. He told Sachin, ‘John Traicos is such an ordinary bowler. You could have hit him out of the ground; you were taking singles’."
“Sachin said ‘Our target was to win the match’. But Vinod did not learn. If there is one person who could upset Sachin, that is Vinod Kambli."
Kambli finally got his chance to play in the high-pressure match against Pakistan. Unfortunately, his performance didn’t match his advice, as he managed only 24 runs off 41 balls. This allowed Tendulkar and Manjrekar to tease him.
Swipe Left For Next Video
“After the match, we took him aside," Manjrekar said. “We asked, ‘What happened? You hit such big sixes in the nets. Why didn’t you do it in the game?’ He simply replied, ‘They were bowling very tight.’ That was his explanation."
Reflecting on the incident, Manjrekar concluded, “If there’s one person who could upset Sachin, it was Vinod Kambli. He truly was a character."
Latest Blogs
