Born and bred in Mumbai, Vinod Kambli's flashy strokeplay, flamboyant personality and fondness for gold jewellery were more West Indies than West India. A precocious talent, he was 17, and Sachin Tendulkar 16, when they put on a world-record unbroken 664-run partnership in a school match. Kambli started his Test career three years after Tendulkar, and three years after he had hit the first ball he received in the Ranji Trophy for six. But what a start it was: in his first seven Tests he racked up two double-centuries and two single ones. His footwork was dazzling against the spinners - he once smashed Shane Warne for 22 runs in an over - but he often got himself into a tangle against the short ball, and his flash to gully soon became a trademark. Kambli's problems were compounded by indiscipline and an obsession with the width of his bat-handle, which had nine grips on at one time. He made as many as nine comebacks into the one-day team, but played his last Test in 1995 before he had turned 24. He wasn't picked in the Indian ODI team after October 2000 and retired from international cricket in 2009. He announced his retirement from first-class cricket in 2011.
Rahul Bhattacharya