9 Cricket Facts on Vinod Kambli

Vinod Ganapat Kambli was born on 18th January 1972 in Mumbai. He belonged to a poor family that lived in a locality in Kanjurmarg, one of the suburbs of Mumbai. Kambli’s name was first heard around when he put on an unbroken 664-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar in a Harris Shield semifinal match in Mumbai in 1988.

1. Father who played cricket:

Vinod Kambli’s father who was a mechanic, was also a cricketer in Mumbai’s club circuit. He was a fast bowler for his team.

2. India Under-19 in Asia Cup:

In December 1989, Kambli was picked for the India under-19 team to play the Asia Youth Cup. Sourav Ganguly, Ajay Jadeja, Aashish Kapoor were some of his teammates.

3. Memorable Ranji Trophy start:

Kambli is in the elite league of batsmen to have begun their First-Class careers with a six when he made his debut for Bombay (now Mumbai) against Gujarat in 1989. He went on to register 72 in his team’s only innings in this drawn match which was played in Surat.

4. Double centuries:

In February-March 1993, Kambli smashed back-to-back double centuries in Test cricket. He first smashed 224 against England at his home ground Wankhede Stadium and then followed it up with an innings of 227 against Zimbabwe in Delhi.

5. Tons in three consecutive Test innings:

After those back-to-back doubles, he scored a century in his next innings against Sri Lanka. He scored 125 against Sri Lanka in Colombo n July 1993. He thus has tons in three consecutive Test innings.

6. Fastest to 1,000 Test runs for India:

With 1000 runs in just 14 Test innings – Kambli remains the fastest Indian to reach the milestone. Overall, he is only behind Herbert Sutcliffe, Everton Weekes, Sir Don Bradman and Neil Harvey (who also took 14 innings, but only nine Tests when compared to Kambli’s 12).

7. Dismal second innings average:

He struggled in the second innings in Tests. While his first innings average is an amazing 69.13, the corresponding number for the second innings is a paltry 9.40. Having played just 17 matches, he never got a chance to improve on that.

8. ODI ton on birthday:

Vinod Kambli is in the exclusive club of batsmen who his a ODI century on their birthday along with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ross Taylor. On January 18, 1993 – Kambli registered an unbeaten 100 against England at Jaipur.

9. 1996 World Cup:

In 1996, India endured an embarrassing exit from the World Cup. In the midst of the dramatic scenes during the semi-final at Kolkata, Kambli walked back to the dressing room in tears. He was soon discarded from the team. From March 1996 to October 2000, when he played his last ODI, Kambli featured in only 35 matches and averaged 19.31. That semi-final turned out to be the beginning of his decline.