May be, Vinod Kambli More Talented Than Sachin Tendulkar: Kapil Dev
Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar started their cricket careers together but the former's international career, in spite of an awesome start, fizzled out due to a poor lifestyle.
Highlights
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Kapil Dev has compared Kambli and Tendulkar's cricket talent
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Kapil feels parental guidance influences careers
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Kapil feels Kambli paid for poor lifestyle
India's 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has highlighted the role of parents in shaping the careers of their children.
Kapil, India's all-time favourite all-rounder, highlighted how Sachin Tendulkar's life blossomed as a cricket due to proper parental guidance while Vinod Kambli's life did not.
Kapil even hinted that Kambli was probably more "talented" that the only man on earth who scored a hundred international centuries.
Speaking during a ceremony in Pune, Kapil pointed out that talent alone could not build a career. The role of a good family and parents played a massive role, said India's former captain.
Kambli made a stunning start to his international career in 1993. The left-handed batsman, with an array of strokes, slammed two double centuries and two hundreds in his first seven Tests. But in two years, after playing 17 Tests, Kambli's Test career was over.
What did Tendulkar did in his cricketing life is of course well known. Kambli and Tendulkar, who were bosom friends and known for their 664-run world record in school cricket, also went different ways. Their lifestyles just did not match.
© BCCI
"They both started together and were equally talented. Kambli, maybe, was more talented, but his support system, the environment at home and his friends circle, was totally different than what Sachin had," Kapil said.
"We all know what happened later. Sachin went on to play for 24 years and Kambli just disappeared as he failed to lived up to the success he achieved early in his career," said the former all-rounder.
"Talent is one thing, but a sportsperson needs more than that. Support of friends, parents, brother, sister, school, college...everything," he added.
Now 44, Kambli probably regrets a lifestyle that cut short a flamboyant career. He has turned up at IPL matches with his son and even suggested that Tendulkar should become India's coach.