The name Kambli is often associated with unfulfilled talent in the world cricket. The first name that comes to mind is 1990s superstar Vinod Kambli. The Mumbai southpaw put on a record 664 runs with Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar at school level back in 1988 for Shardashram Vidyalaya in the Haris Shield tournament in Mumbai.
That one partnership put Vinod Kambli in everyone’s mind even before he made his international. Kambli finally entered international cricket in 1992 and notched up back-to-back double centuries in his third and 4th Tests. After 4 Tests he was averaging 137 and even after 7 Tests, he had Sir Donald Bradman-like average of more than 100.
But his downfall was as rapid as his rise. Vinod Kambli only managed to play in 17 Tests in his career which ended within three years of his debut.
Vinod Kambli’s recent video where he is seen trying to hug childhood mate Sachin Tendulkar has gone viral. He was appearing with Tendulkar at a function to honour their late coach Ramakant Achrekar in Mumbai earlier this month.
But there is another cricketer with the famous surname of ‘Kambli’, who failed to make it count in the world of Indian cricket. We are talking about former Goa pace bowler Narayan Kambli.
The 57-year-old from Raibandar in Goa, turned out in 39 first-class matches and 20 List ‘A’ matches for Goa before his retirement in 2006.
Narayan Kambli claimed 72 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 36.93 with a best of 5/58 against Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy Plate Group match. He was teammate of cricketers like Swapnil Asnodkar and Shadab Jakati – both of whom when on to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Former Goa cricketer Narayan Kambli. (Source: Facebook)
While Asnodkar played for Rajasthan Royals under the captaincy of Shane Warne, Jakati played for a few IPL teams including the likes of MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings.
Narayan Kambli works as cricket coach with the Sports Authority of Goa according to his Facebook page.
Meanwhile, Vinod Kambli who played in 17 Tests and 104 ODI for Team India and scored 1,084 Tests runs and 2,477 runs in One-dayers is struggling to make his ends meet. Vinod Kambli, who once used to have net worth of over Rs 13 crore, is currently barely surviving with Rs 30,000 pension per month provided by the BCCI.
Vinod Kambli revealed in an interview recently that he was prepared to go back to rehab if it meant getting financial assistance from 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team players like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.
