Last Updated:
Vinod Kambli burst into India’s Test set-up with back-to-back double hundreds after playing just 2 matches whereas Sachin Tendulkar got his first-ever double ton a decade after making his debut.
Contrasting Test feats of Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar
Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar – the students of legendary coach Ramakant Achrekar who turned into ace batters but endured radically different fates. While the latter emerged as the ‘God of Cricket’, scoring 100 hundreds in international cricket, the former’s career never reached its full potential. In fact, his life was plagued by controversies and unending struggles, both on and off the field.
The media has been reporting about Kambli’s deteriorating health for quite some time now. However, fans got to know about his actual condition when he recently made a public appearance. At a memorial event for the late Achrekar in Mumbai, he shared the stage with his old friend Tendulkar but appeared physically weak. A couple of videos went viral in which he could be seen clinging to Tendulkar and singing a song with a shaky voice, sparking a wave of concern.
Kambli’s journey from fame to misery is quite remorseful. Once considered more talented than Tendulkar, the left-hand batter’s international career lasted nine years. Kambli made his ODI debut in 1991 and played his first Test in 1993. But he announced himself in style, smashing double hundreds in just the 4th and 5th innings of his career. He followed it up with a couple more hundreds, all of them notching in a matter of a few months.
Back in 1989, Tendulkar was the youngest player to play a Test match for the country, while his first Test ton was in 1990, against England in Manchester. But it took him a decade to get a double century in the longest format of the game. Sachin got his first-ever Test double hundred in 1999 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad; even three years after Kambli played his last Test match – against the Kiwis in 1995.
In the next 14 years, Sachin shattered every possible batting record and completed a century of centuries, with 51 Test hundreds, including six double tons.
Kambli, on the other hand, got more opportunities in ODIs after playing his last Test match in 1995. He played 104 One-Day Internationals in nine years and scored 2,477 runs at an average of 32.29. He retired with 1,084 Test runs in 17 matches with an impressive average of 54.20.
