In Indian cricket, former international player Vinod Kambli is known as a once-in-a-generation talent, who had all the potential to rule the batting charts for years, but somewhere got lost in the glitz, glamour, and fame. Kambli along with Sachin Tendulkar broke old records and rewrote new ones en route to their journey into the Indian National Cricket Team. Vinod Kambli Birthday Special: List of Records Held By Ex-Indian Cricket Team Star As He Turns 53

Upon dishing out runs in domestic cricket, Kambli made his ODI debut in 1991 but found his element in Tests, hitting three consecutive hundreds in three innings against three different nations, apart from becoming the fastest India to 1,000 red-ball runs back then.

Kambli's performances propelled the batter into superstardom, which few Indian players achieve early in their careers. Unfortunately, this also became his undoing in his career, which ended prematurely in 2009, when the cricketer retired aged 28. In this article, we list three factors that were the prime reasons behind Kambli's fall from grace. 

Rise of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman

After an impressive Test career, Kambli's technique got found out by West Indies pacers in 1994, which in turn brought a downfall to the batter, who managed just one 40+ score, and suffered as many as three ducks before getting dropped. Elsewhere, in domestic cricket, the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman were stockpiling runs, and that too, consistently, pushed Kambli behind in the reckoning.

Too Much Glitz and Glamour

Success in cricket invites a lot of money, and distraction, which Kambli got sucked into during the 1990s when almost every TV channel wanted a piece of the pie. However, Kambli got lost in the entertainment world and lost his touch and humbleness, which made him a superstar cricketer. Kambli's relationship with Tendulkar was sensationalized in the media, which hindered his equation, where the batter trusted the then-Indian captain to help him make a comeback into the national side. Vinod Kambli Receives a Kiss from Sanjay Manjrekar, Interacts With Wasim Jaffer at MCA's Felicitation Ceremony As Part of Wankhede Stadium's 50th Anniversary Celebrations (Watch Video).

Ankle Injury in 1998

Unlucky with injuries, Kambli sustained a lot during his playing days, but the one that ruined his career was the ankle tear injury the left-handed batter suffered in 1998. Trying to make a comeback into the Indian national cricket team, Kambli as a batter was not the same, his agility became hampered, and majestic strokeplay also suffered.

Having made nine comebacks into the ODI set-up between 1991 and 2000, Kambli finally bid adieu to the sport internationally in 2009 but continued to feature in FC cricket till 2011. A career, that promised so much, ended with Kambli playing 121 internationals for India, and scoring 3,561 runs, which included 17 fifties, and six hundred, out of which two were double-tons.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 18, 2025 07:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).