Vinod Kambli was once a star in cricket, known for his amazing partnership with Sachin Tendulkar. They were best friends in school and became famous players for India. But now, it’s sad to see how far Kambli has fallen.
His career started off strong with big scores: he made 224 runs against England and 227 against Zimbabwe. In comparison, Sachin didn’t score 200 runs in a match until years later. Kambli felt that while Sachin quickly climbed to the top, he struggled like he was climbing stairs.
After those great early years, things took a turn for Kambli. He started facing problems off the field. His love for partying and late nights began to affect his game, and before long, he couldn’t keep up with his performance. Despite averaging 54.20 runs in Test matches, he didn’t play a Test after November 1995.
While Sachin went on to have a legendary career—playing 200 Tests, scoring 51 hundreds, and winning a World Cup—Kambli was left behind. The most memorable moment of his career was crying during the 1996 World Cup semifinal when the match was stopped and India lost.
As the years went by, Kambli struggled with his personal life too. There were videos showing him looking unwell and seeming drunk. Many people, including Sachin, tried to reach out to him, but if someone doesn’t want to help themselves, it’s tough for anyone else to do so.
Kambli has often said that Sachin didn’t support him enough, which isn’t quite true. While Sachin was busy building his own career, he did encourage Kambli to return to cricket in 2017. Kambli even got a job coaching young players, and they shared a heartfelt moment when they met again.
Unfortunately, Kambli couldn’t stay on the right path for long. Each time he had a chance to make things better, he seemed to push it away. It’s sad to see him in this situation, and people can’t help but wonder, “Why, Vinod, why?”
His story serves as a warning about managing fame and success. Did anyone else do something wrong? Maybe, but mostly, it was Kambli who needed to take charge of his own life. That’s the simple truth of it.
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