Biography of Vinod Kambli

Vinod Ganpat Kambli was born on 18 January 1972, Mumbai, Maharashtra, is a former Indian cricketer, who played for India, Mumbai and Boland. Widely considered as a prodigious talent, it is popularly believed that Kambli never quite fulfilled his potential.

Kambli hails from Bhendibazar, a poor suburb of Mumbai(Bombay), and in the single-room chawl (slum dwelling) that was home to up to 24 members of his extended family. The a small patch of land served as his first cricket pitch was surrounded on all sides by high-rise buildings.The scoring system was dictated by the lack of space, and the higher a batsman hit the ball into the buildings the more runs he scored. It explains why Kambli was one of the best over-the-top hitters of spin bowling. He rose to prominence, when he shared an unbroken partnership of 664 in a school match against St. Xavier’s School, Fort, with Sachin Tendulkar. Kambli contributed 349* before their coach Acharekar forced the pair to declare.

According to the players who played with Kambli and Sachin, Kambli was considered to be a better of the two. Kambli, who started his Ranji trophy career with a six off the first ball he faced, soon followed Sachin in to the Indian team. Kambli had an exciting start to his test career making two double-centuries and two centuries in just seven tests. However, he lost his touch midway through his career and was subsequently dropped from the team. His technical insecurity against fast short-pitched bowling, and disciplinary problems, militated against his selection. He played in his last Test match aged just 24.

Kambli, nevertheless, was able to make frequent One-day squad, but could not cement his place in the team. He played his last ODI in 2000.

Kambli,’s Test debut was India vs England at Kolkata, 1st Test, 1992/93. Last Test was India vs New Zealand at Cuttack, 3rd Test, 1995/96. ODI debut was India vs Pakistan at Sharjah, Wills Trophy, 2nd Match, 1991/92 and Last ODI was India vs Sri Lanka at Sharjah, Coca-Cola Champions Trophy, 2000/01.

On Aug 15 August 2009, Indian TV channels reported that Kambli opened Khel Bharti Sports Academy in Mumbai and announced his retirement from cricket and his intention to coach at Khel Bharti Academy.

Vinod Kambli was first married to Noella Lewis, a hockey player who met him when she was working at Taj Blue Diamond hotel in Pune, in 1998. They split later on. He then married Andrea. They are expecting their first child in June 2010 .

In the 2009 Vidhan Sabha election, he Contested from Vikhroli, Mumbai as a Lok Bharati Party candidate. He lost the election.