Vinod kamblis talent was there to see when he entered International cricket in 1992.
Although 3 years later than sachin tendulkar, he seemed to be more than eager to make up for it by scoring 2 double centuries in the first seven matches he played. The cricketing world was suddenly waking up to a boy who was promising all that it was expecting of sachin the last few years. People started comparing the two boys.
They stared featuring as a pair on newspaper covers, print ads and tv commercials.
A heady concoction to say the least, that too for boys in their early 20's.
Suddenly the honeymoon seemed to be over for kambli though. After a few scratchy performances he found himself sidelined. a drop from the heights of sky to the depth of realities maybe didnt go down too well with him. Stories about his late night drunken escapades started appearing in the newspapers. His antics in the dressing room also started making headlines. Having a colorful personality did its part of keeping him in the news for mostly the wrong reasons.
But its not that only his behavior was questionable; there were some apparently grey areas in the selection too. It wasnt clear why sachin made an early debut while vinod kambli was made to wait nearly three years before getting a chance. Even if this aberration is ignored, the bcci doesnt present a strong case for itself if we see the random way in which the team was selected in the nineties. Being a big fan of sachin - kambli, I combo wished to see them bat together. After his omission from the team, my agenda used to be reading the newspaper to track whether the next team selection featured vinod kambli or not. To my utter chagrin it always turned out to be surprising.
Even with some decent shows under his belt in the domestic seasons, vinod kambli was systematically ignored for few times. I dont blame the BCCI for discriminating but there could always be people who dont necessarily see the bigger picture. Going by the selection goofups my faith in the cricket administration waned to such an extent that i started to feel skeptical about the people in control.
The final coffin in the head was sourav ganguly. The way in which he was introduced in the team was controversial. Till this day i believe that ganguly reaped the benefits of the nepotism shown towards him in his early days. I dont mean to say he didnt have talent; but just that he got the chance to showcase it when it mattered and ahead of his turn. There was a point of time when i used to hate watching ganguly bat since i couldnt forget about the injustice done to another talent from Mumbai. (My disdain for ganguly turned to respect the way he handled the team post the matchfixing scandal and the Lords t-shirt twirling incident. He became "Amar Dada" after that.)
With vinod kambli doing nothing to better his chances of a selection by carrying on with his happy go luck ways, it was just a matter of time before his possibilities of a comeback exhausted. Though its worth mentioning that the moment sachin was made captain he found himself in the team. I even heard that sachin fought with the selectors to get him in the team. With all this support from his captain why did he not get serious about playing for the country.
It didnt take long for him to fizzle out thought.His checkered test career ended before he was 24. Although he made one day appearances till as recently as 2000, his performances were never good enough to cement his place in the ODI side.
If sachin tendulkar is arguably the greatest gift to indian cricket i would call vinod kambli the greatest loss to indian cricket. There have been instances of cricketers that have had things going for them initially and later lost their way inexplicably. Vinod kambli can easily vie for a spot in this infamous club.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
vinod kamblis sachin friendship on sach ka saamna part1
With all the controversy surrounding vinod kambli's comments (confessions?) on the new tv show sach ka samna, i couldnt resist from writing my feelings on the matter. The reason being me being an avid cricket fan since childhood. I dont care where and under what circumstances vinod kambli made such a comment, but i really feel anguished when vinod kambli attributes his failure to cope with his life to sachin not being there for him when needed.
Lets go back almost 2 decades when a star rose on the cricket firmament called Sachin tendulkar. he was the boy wonder back then and still is for many of that generation. A simple boy from a marathi background, cute face with curly hair. Nothing special to take notice if you passed him on the road. But see him play on the 22 yards and you would bet your moneys worth that he was a star in the making. Small build, good technique, fearless attitude, cool temperament and an amazing straight drive. He reminded people of the dream that Indian cricket had lived going by the name of Sunil gavaskar. But the thing that made sachin special was the loads of aggression. So we think. Ask gavaskar himself and he would promptly answer its not sachins talent that has got him all that he has.
Its more than talent you need to produce the numbers attributed to sachin at the close of his career. To say the least the numbers are unbelievably large and Mr gavaskar contributes it to sachins hard work and work ethic. I couldnt agree with Mr gavaskar more. If people see what sachin has achieved, we forget what all he had to sacrifice to attain it. I am no expert on sachins biography but i know how he used to shadow practise his technique in the night. He stayed with his uncle and aunty since he was 12 years old; away from his parents; just because the ground was closer from there. How his coach Achrekar sir used to take him on his scooter to multiple matches in a day just to get that extra batting practice.Probably the reason why Achrekar sir admits no one can match sachins dedication to the game ever.
But what if there had been. We wouldnt have to look far away from Mumbai to get an answer. Infact the answer was in the same school, infact a classmate of Sachins'. They even coached under the augustine Achrekar sir. His name was Vinod Kambli.
Similar in built to sachin, vinod was a southpaw though. The overiding similarity between the two though was the gravity of talent in those boys. One was the quintessential cricketer with all the strokes in the book with copybook precision and timing, supplemented by a sharp cricketing brain. Not to mention a steely determination to be the best even as a seventen year old. The other one equally talented if not more but more flamboyant and somewhat crippled by it too.
All these years down the line i dont need to tell who embodied which qualities but the fact remains talent as a virtue is good at making promises; without any compulsions to realise them. While we see sachin at the peak of the game even after 20 long years, vinod kambli with all the talent he still had few years back is seen doing dancing, comedy and to top it all confessing in reality shows these days. Surely what could have gone wrong with a person with unquestionably rare talent?
Please read my next post for more HERE.
Lets go back almost 2 decades when a star rose on the cricket firmament called Sachin tendulkar. he was the boy wonder back then and still is for many of that generation. A simple boy from a marathi background, cute face with curly hair. Nothing special to take notice if you passed him on the road. But see him play on the 22 yards and you would bet your moneys worth that he was a star in the making. Small build, good technique, fearless attitude, cool temperament and an amazing straight drive. He reminded people of the dream that Indian cricket had lived going by the name of Sunil gavaskar. But the thing that made sachin special was the loads of aggression. So we think. Ask gavaskar himself and he would promptly answer its not sachins talent that has got him all that he has.
Its more than talent you need to produce the numbers attributed to sachin at the close of his career. To say the least the numbers are unbelievably large and Mr gavaskar contributes it to sachins hard work and work ethic. I couldnt agree with Mr gavaskar more. If people see what sachin has achieved, we forget what all he had to sacrifice to attain it. I am no expert on sachins biography but i know how he used to shadow practise his technique in the night. He stayed with his uncle and aunty since he was 12 years old; away from his parents; just because the ground was closer from there. How his coach Achrekar sir used to take him on his scooter to multiple matches in a day just to get that extra batting practice.Probably the reason why Achrekar sir admits no one can match sachins dedication to the game ever.
But what if there had been. We wouldnt have to look far away from Mumbai to get an answer. Infact the answer was in the same school, infact a classmate of Sachins'. They even coached under the augustine Achrekar sir. His name was Vinod Kambli.
Similar in built to sachin, vinod was a southpaw though. The overiding similarity between the two though was the gravity of talent in those boys. One was the quintessential cricketer with all the strokes in the book with copybook precision and timing, supplemented by a sharp cricketing brain. Not to mention a steely determination to be the best even as a seventen year old. The other one equally talented if not more but more flamboyant and somewhat crippled by it too.
All these years down the line i dont need to tell who embodied which qualities but the fact remains talent as a virtue is good at making promises; without any compulsions to realise them. While we see sachin at the peak of the game even after 20 long years, vinod kambli with all the talent he still had few years back is seen doing dancing, comedy and to top it all confessing in reality shows these days. Surely what could have gone wrong with a person with unquestionably rare talent?
Please read my next post for more HERE.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Destinys child
There were still 5 minutes left. Gopu still had the railway crossing to cross and then the final walk to school.
"No. A walk wouldn't do", he thought.
"I shall have to run for it otherwise there's no way to be on time to school".
Inspite of the eventuality of getting late and getting reprimanded, he was smiling to himself. He was feeling happy!
He looked at the shutting crossing gate. He had to cross now, or wait for another 10 mins before the crossing reopened. A cursory glance on both sides of the track didnt show any approaching train. That was more than enough for him and he found himself crossing the tracks before he even decided to walk. Happiness makes your feet feel so light.
His dash lasted a few minutes and ended at the school gates. He had infact made it in time. He joined his class four batch in the school-ground for the daily prayer. Now that he had made it in time he recollected the days events. He felt good again, his eyes wandered off somewhere thinking about how the money in his pocket might be used.
His next sensation was of sharp pain on his leg. His thought train was immediately derailed and he came back into reality.
"Oh. Mr Pandeys cane!".
He was seeing straight into the eyes of Pandey Sir. He could see the fury in his piercing black eyes. Before the pain subsided another shot hit the same place with the same ferocity. The pain gave way in the form of tears and through bleary eyes he stood there expecting another caning. This time the cane was rested and he was virtually dragged to the dias where the principal used to stand during the prayers.
"Look at this boy, Principal sir", quipped Mr Pandey.
It was then that gopu realised the reason for his involuntary beating. Although he was in the school uniform, it could at best be called a wannabe uniform. The half pant was soiled. The supposedly white shirt was a button and a chest pocket less. The only way of knowing that a pocket existed was the patch of cloth that made the pocket hanging lamely from the few stitches that had survived some atrocity. Not to mention half of the shirt made a genuine case for claiming that it was tucked in properly. A black eye, ruffled hair and scratch marks on hands and legs completed described the mess that gopu was at that moment.
Now that the beating had taken a hiatus, his mind again resumed the thoughts interrupted earlier. It was then that he remembered how he had managed to keep his money. The way raju and his cronies had parted him with his money. The chase which had taken him away from the railway station. The scuffle with raju resulting in those torn pocket, soiled clothes and the scratches. And of course, the black eye. Truth be told. Raju had ended up with more than a black eye at gopus hands. Rajus cronies, true to the spirit of being sidekicks, immediately made a getaway after seeing their "bhai" bite the dust.
Now gopu was happy with the money he had. He had earned his money that day; not to mention he literally fought to reclaim it. His mind was not doing endless permutations of how he could support his family. Just a few days; thats it. He couldnt wait to go home and see the expression on his familys face.
This time, his thoughts were broken by a reassuring hand on the shoulder rather than a cane. he snapped out of his doodling and faced the principal.
"son, what happened to you?", asked the principal in a calm but firm voice. Calmly, gopu reached into his bag and pulled out a small parchment. The parchment read:
Sir,
I had missed school the entire last week. My family needed me to support in these difficult times as my father couldnt goto work. He used to work in the railway canteen. Therefore, i had to work in his place. I assure you this wont continue for more.
Thanks."
"No. A walk wouldn't do", he thought.
"I shall have to run for it otherwise there's no way to be on time to school".
Inspite of the eventuality of getting late and getting reprimanded, he was smiling to himself. He was feeling happy!
He looked at the shutting crossing gate. He had to cross now, or wait for another 10 mins before the crossing reopened. A cursory glance on both sides of the track didnt show any approaching train. That was more than enough for him and he found himself crossing the tracks before he even decided to walk. Happiness makes your feet feel so light.
His dash lasted a few minutes and ended at the school gates. He had infact made it in time. He joined his class four batch in the school-ground for the daily prayer. Now that he had made it in time he recollected the days events. He felt good again, his eyes wandered off somewhere thinking about how the money in his pocket might be used.
His next sensation was of sharp pain on his leg. His thought train was immediately derailed and he came back into reality.
"Oh. Mr Pandeys cane!".
He was seeing straight into the eyes of Pandey Sir. He could see the fury in his piercing black eyes. Before the pain subsided another shot hit the same place with the same ferocity. The pain gave way in the form of tears and through bleary eyes he stood there expecting another caning. This time the cane was rested and he was virtually dragged to the dias where the principal used to stand during the prayers.
"Look at this boy, Principal sir", quipped Mr Pandey.
It was then that gopu realised the reason for his involuntary beating. Although he was in the school uniform, it could at best be called a wannabe uniform. The half pant was soiled. The supposedly white shirt was a button and a chest pocket less. The only way of knowing that a pocket existed was the patch of cloth that made the pocket hanging lamely from the few stitches that had survived some atrocity. Not to mention half of the shirt made a genuine case for claiming that it was tucked in properly. A black eye, ruffled hair and scratch marks on hands and legs completed described the mess that gopu was at that moment.
Now that the beating had taken a hiatus, his mind again resumed the thoughts interrupted earlier. It was then that he remembered how he had managed to keep his money. The way raju and his cronies had parted him with his money. The chase which had taken him away from the railway station. The scuffle with raju resulting in those torn pocket, soiled clothes and the scratches. And of course, the black eye. Truth be told. Raju had ended up with more than a black eye at gopus hands. Rajus cronies, true to the spirit of being sidekicks, immediately made a getaway after seeing their "bhai" bite the dust.
Now gopu was happy with the money he had. He had earned his money that day; not to mention he literally fought to reclaim it. His mind was not doing endless permutations of how he could support his family. Just a few days; thats it. He couldnt wait to go home and see the expression on his familys face.
This time, his thoughts were broken by a reassuring hand on the shoulder rather than a cane. he snapped out of his doodling and faced the principal.
"son, what happened to you?", asked the principal in a calm but firm voice. Calmly, gopu reached into his bag and pulled out a small parchment. The parchment read:
Sir,
I had missed school the entire last week. My family needed me to support in these difficult times as my father couldnt goto work. He used to work in the railway canteen. Therefore, i had to work in his place. I assure you this wont continue for more.
Thanks."
Monday, January 12, 2009
Move over Sharukh Khan ... Slumdog's here
Atleast for a few days sharukh is not on the movie covers. No .. its not Ghajini either. For that matter its none of the traditional cover boys of bollywood namely the khans, kumars and the roshans. Its Mumbai at the center of it all. And its not the Mumbai Bollywood raves and rants about. Its nothing to do with the glitz, the glamour, the extravagance and the excesses. Infact its the totally opposite one. Its the Mumbai that stinks, survives rather than exists and surprisingly, it never gives up.
Mumbai lives in its slums. The slums give Mumbai its character more than the Arabian Sea, the Marine Drive,Malabar Hill or Juhu itself. Majority of the people come from slums. This in itself is enough to corroborate what i mean to say. The rozy, romantic Mumbai along with its english speaking ("cool"?) junta can take a hike. For now atleast. Its just an illusion created by marketing pundits to fool people into believing what a life people live in Mumbai. The celebrities, (Sharukh the sportstars and their comrades inclusive) are just agents to foster that illusion and keep it alive. For the longer it stays alive the better for them to sell anything and everything. At the cost of Mumbai of course.
The real Mumbai however has been the same over many decades. Even decades back it wasnt very different that what it is now. Just that people just didnt care about this so called underbelly. The only difference being that now all of a sudden, with India being in the eye of the west, Mumbai, or rather India, is up for inspection. Naturally, the things that we have become insensitized to and take for granted have started to appeal to the sensibilities of the foreign world. The same has happened with Slumdog millionaire.
Ironically, it took a Brit to portray Mumbai in all its unglorified nudity. His Indian counterparts either didn't want to or didnt care frankly speaking. The reasons for which i have already mentioned. There might certainly be people who look at these foreigners as hypocrites playing to their western gallery. Their argument being that there is so much more to show about India rather than her poverty. My answer to that is step outside your building or peep outside the window of your skyscraper. Chances are that you already have an idea and have kept the window closed to stop the stench. Its so easy to live in Mumbai, you just need to become cold blooded!
Down below the building, you wont see much other than a hive of tin roofs, brick walls and plastic sheets. Small dwellings measuring 6ft by 10 ft housing entire families are relatively easy to find. Its here that children call a pigeonhole as their home. Labyrinthine alleys and culdesac's dot the entire landscape. Occasionally, you would spot garbage strewn all around. You wouldnt want to see any more of it either. Actually, you should be thankful that you dont get to see much since its so congested as it shall quickly shatter all mirages of how developed we are. Imagine, if we are so ignorant of the city in which we live then what about the real India in the villages.
I genuinely wish goodluck to the effort that Danny Boyle has undertaken. I havent watched the movie so wouldnt want to comment on that. But the undertaking on such a subject itself needs appreciation.
Mumbai lives in its slums. The slums give Mumbai its character more than the Arabian Sea, the Marine Drive,Malabar Hill or Juhu itself. Majority of the people come from slums. This in itself is enough to corroborate what i mean to say. The rozy, romantic Mumbai along with its english speaking ("cool"?) junta can take a hike. For now atleast. Its just an illusion created by marketing pundits to fool people into believing what a life people live in Mumbai. The celebrities, (Sharukh the sportstars and their comrades inclusive) are just agents to foster that illusion and keep it alive. For the longer it stays alive the better for them to sell anything and everything. At the cost of Mumbai of course.
The real Mumbai however has been the same over many decades. Even decades back it wasnt very different that what it is now. Just that people just didnt care about this so called underbelly. The only difference being that now all of a sudden, with India being in the eye of the west, Mumbai, or rather India, is up for inspection. Naturally, the things that we have become insensitized to and take for granted have started to appeal to the sensibilities of the foreign world. The same has happened with Slumdog millionaire.
Ironically, it took a Brit to portray Mumbai in all its unglorified nudity. His Indian counterparts either didn't want to or didnt care frankly speaking. The reasons for which i have already mentioned. There might certainly be people who look at these foreigners as hypocrites playing to their western gallery. Their argument being that there is so much more to show about India rather than her poverty. My answer to that is step outside your building or peep outside the window of your skyscraper. Chances are that you already have an idea and have kept the window closed to stop the stench. Its so easy to live in Mumbai, you just need to become cold blooded!
Down below the building, you wont see much other than a hive of tin roofs, brick walls and plastic sheets. Small dwellings measuring 6ft by 10 ft housing entire families are relatively easy to find. Its here that children call a pigeonhole as their home. Labyrinthine alleys and culdesac's dot the entire landscape. Occasionally, you would spot garbage strewn all around. You wouldnt want to see any more of it either. Actually, you should be thankful that you dont get to see much since its so congested as it shall quickly shatter all mirages of how developed we are. Imagine, if we are so ignorant of the city in which we live then what about the real India in the villages.
I genuinely wish goodluck to the effort that Danny Boyle has undertaken. I havent watched the movie so wouldnt want to comment on that. But the undertaking on such a subject itself needs appreciation.
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