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.