Vinod Kambli "Never Cared About Money", Rejected Part-Time Job: Ex Teammate's Stunning Revelation
Former India batter Vinod Kambli is the living example of "from riches to rags". Once considered as the future of Indian cricket, Kambli miserably failed to make it big in his career, due to his unhealthy lifestyle and lack of discipline. In December last year, he also came into the limelight after he was admitted Akruti Hospital in Thane for urinary infection and cramps. His poor health condition became the talk of the town and several big names came forward to offer him a financial aid.
Kambli, who is the legendary Sachin Tendulkar 's childhood friend, played 104 ODIs and 17 Tests for India. Recently, a never-heard before story about Kambli and Sachin was shared by one of their mutual friends, during their days in Yorkshire.
Sachin joined Yorkshire in 1992, becoming the first overseas player to be signed by the English club. His friend Kambli was already in England, playing for a local club and made a big name for himself.
While playing for a local club, Kambli became a known face and made many friends over there. Solly Adams, the man who was responsible for Sachin's contract, recently told the Indian Express that Kambli had turned down an offer of a part-time job.
"One day we were sitting, 10 cricketers. All of them had part-time jobs except for Vinod and Sachin. So a cricketer from Mumbai asked Vinod - 'Since you only earn 25 pound a match, why don't you work at one of Solly's places? Kambli didn't think for a minute, pat came his reply: 'I and Sachin will make money playing Test cricket, I don't want to divert my attention doing part-time jobs.' That was exceptional, what confidence. He was very young, far from being a Test batsman but he had the confidence," Solly told Indian Express.
"Vinod, when he returned to India, took all the money from his father and spent it with his friends ... Vinod never cared about money, nor did he have any respect for commodities," he added.
Apart from him, Kambli's friend Nasa Hussain also spoke about the former batter's immense talent during his days with the local club.
"As a South Asian, Sachin joining Yorkshire was big news. I'll tell you what was better, he brought along with him his friend Vinod Kambli, who played in our league. I've never-ever met a person who hits the ball as hard as he used to," Nasa Hussain told The Indian Express.
"He just ran down the track and hits the first ball for six, and you think, 'well okay'. Young man from India, never seen before, never heard of before, and he just comes and smashes it. Subsequently, he went on to score two double-hundreds against England. That was some talent. In today's day and age, that guy would have been a multi-millionaire," he added.
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