Vinod Kambli in financial crisis: ‘Sachin knows everything but...’
Former India batsman Vinod Kambli on Wednesday (August 17) spoke about his financial difficulties and sought cricket-related assignments besides adding that his good friend and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar knows everything about him.
The 50-year-old Kambli has revealed that his only source of income right now is ₹30,000 pension which he receives from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“I need assignments, where I can work with youngsters. I know Mumbai have retained Amol (Muzumdar) as their head coach, but if anywhere I am needed, I am there. We have played together and we were a great team. That’s what I want them (current Mumbai team) to do…to play as a team,” Kambli, who played 17 Tests and 104 ODIs for India, told Mid-day newspaper.
Also read: Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun leaves Mumbai to play for Goa
“I was seeking help from the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association). I came into the CIC (Cricket Improvement Committee), but it was an honorary job. I went to the MCA for some help. I have a family to look after. I told the MCA many times that if you require me, I am there whether it is at the Wankhede Stadium or at BKC. Mumbai cricket has given me a lot. I owe my life to this game,” he added.
According to the newspaper, Kambli last coached a team in the 2019 T20 Mumbai League and guided young cricketers at the Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy in Nerul. The first post-Covid edition of the T20 league has yet to materialise. And where coaching work at the academy is concerned, Kambli said he found Nerul too far to travel to—“I used to wake up at 5am, take a cab to DY Patil Stadium. It was very hectic. I would then coach at the BKC ground in the evening.”
Recently, Kambli had no money to go back home from the MCA-BKC club in Mumbai and had to borrow cash from a friend.
“Yes, it hurts. I was not born rich. I came up in life only by playing cricket. I have got everything through this game. I have seen poverty while growing up. Khana nahi hota tha kabhi-kabhi (there would not be food on some days). I would go to the Shardashram school, where I would eat food when the team met. That’s where Sachin stood up as a friend. I came from a very poor family. I miss my father and mother,” he said about the incident.
On his good friend Tendulkar, Kambli said he did help with an assignment, and added that he is not expecting anything from the former India captain.
“He (Sachin) knows everything, but I am not expecting anything from him. He gave me the TMGA (Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy) assignment. I was very happy. He has been a very good friend. He has always been there for me,” the former left-handed batsman said.
While many feel Kambli has a drinking problem, he clarifies that he is not an addict and only a social drinker.
“Who doesn’t do it,” he asks. He goes on to reveal that he once had 10 pegs of hard liquor one night in the midst of a Ranji Trophy game and got a hundred the next day. “Our coach Balwinder Singh Sandhu was worried whether I would wake up on time. I did and scored a hundred,” he said.
“My wife Andrea is very strict. If I am going to a function and she tells me not to drink, I follow it. I am scared of her (laughs). She has given me two kids — a boy (12) and a girl (7) and both are left-handers. What else you want,” he added.
