Which test batsman made two double hundreds and two hundreds in his first seven test matches, had an average early on in his career of 113, and had played his last test at the age of 23 with an average of 54 to his name, never to be seen in test cricket again?

 

The individual concerned did indeed shine very brightly for all too brief a time. He made a record stand with someone who has gone on to be arguably the best batsman of his generation and was destined to follow that man’s path. Instead he became obsessed with the number of grips he put on his bat, seemed to like the high life too much and once dropped, never made it back to the test team again.

 

I’ve been reading about this player in the biography I’m currently ensconced in – it certainly reveals a lot more about the sheer dedication the players have and obsession cricket is in this nation – and the enigma plays a prominent part in this legend’s early life.

 

Enough of the vagaries, the hints. I am, of course, talking about Vinod Kambli, who I remember flaying our awful 1992-3 tourists to India all over the park, repeating the trick against Zimbabwe, when that meant something, and then like a supernova he exploded as the fame reportedly got to him and he disappeared. A few one day appearances to no real effect, and that was it. Now the latest news is he’s going into local politics, but one wonders what could have been. To compare him to Graeme Hick or Mark Ramprakash is totally inappropriate. While both of those have stacked up runs at county level with a rapacious appetite, Kambli made a stunning impact at the top level, not down there. While no-one could deny the county duos impact over 20 years of domestic cricket, and while Hick’s one day career is totally overlooked at international level, Kambli shone brightly. Back-to-back double tons is not something done often in test cricket, but Kambli did it.

 

An interesting report on his career can be found here… He also seems to have found a rather unattractive (Not) wife…  So life hasn’t been all bad.

 

I remember watching a few bits of this knock, the first time I saw this very attractive, stylish left handed player  , but he really came to prominence in this test, where, ironically, one of those he was bracketed with in a column I saw made what we thought was his “coming out” innings. A couple more centuries after his 227 against Zimbabwe, then the melt down and a life in and out of the limelight with acting appearances, and now politics. A year older than Tendulkar, with whom he shared the 664 partnership at school (He made 349*) he must look on at Sachin and wonder, could that have been me too? Or maybe he doesn’t.

 

I don’t have a lot of information to work on, as the internet seems more obsessed about his wife than with the powers of cricketer who shone so brightly for so short a time, but the sport, in fact sport, is replete with many such characters who had the talent but it seemed to overwhelm them, or they just did not linger long. Kambli did his little bit, and that’s more than most of us will ever do. An average of 54 and you are done? Outrageous!