IND: Bindra - We Did Kambli A Favor By Dropping Him (26 Jun 1996)

26 June 1996

We Did Kambli A Favor By Dropping Him: Bindra

BOMBAY: President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Inderjit Singh Bindra has said that dropping Vinod Kambli from the Indian team was in fact a "favor" to him because if any disciplinary action had been taken it would have resulted in a twoyear expulsion.

An agitated Bindra told this to former manager of the Indian cricket team Ajit Wadekar who tried to defend Kambli at the board`s meeting held at Simla May 22.

According to a source who attended the meeting, Bindra gave a dressing down to Wadekar when the latter argued that the punishment given to Kambli was disproportionate to his misconduct.

"Bindra told him that things would not have reached this point if he had taken timely action against Kambli." Wadekar said: "There were other too who used to behave in the same fashion." To this, an annoyed Bindra said: "That is still worse!"

The story of misdemeanors by Kambli was narrated at his meeting while the demand for reinstating the controversial cricketer was increasing in a section of the press.

The board secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya highlighted three among several instances of Vinod Kambli`s gross misbehavior at the meeting.

Dalmiya said that on the night before a one-dayer at Lucknow, two years back, Kambli got drunk and had a fight with his fiancee in the hotel room much to the discomfort of his teammates. But the board chose to ignore it under the pretext that it was his personal matter.

He added: "Vinod`s second act of gross indiscipline was in Sharjah last year when team manager Ajit Wadekar was hospitalized after a heart attack. Before going to hospital Wadekar had sent a not to captain Mohammad Azharuddin to send Atul Bedade before Kambli in the batting order. Bedade got out on zero. Kambli came next at number six, but could manage to score only 10 runs. He blamed Azharuddin for his failure. Soon after getting out, Kambli, in the dressing room, abused his captain for almost one and half hours and created a scene. Azhar then took a stand that either he remains in the team or Kambli. Jyoti Vajpayee was the team manager."

Dalmiya said: "The board chairman Bindra and I had a talk on telephone with Azhar, Vinod and other teammates for over four hours. We were reaching a decision to send Vinod back. At this point, Vinod`s schoolmate Sachin Tendulkar intervened and assured that he would control his friend. Sachin begged that one chance be given to Kambli as sending him back home would mean a permanent stigma on his career. The Vinod gave a written promise to the board guaranteeing that he would never misbehave."

Dalmiya added: "However, Vinod refused to change. It became a routine for him to return to the hotel room as late as 2 or 3a.m. But that was not enough. His habit to knock at the doors of other boys and wake them up in the middle of night. He would drink and cry loudly, which disturbed other and would inevitably reflect on their performance the next day. Kambli had started spoiling three youngsters (He didn`t identify them)." The board meeting was attended by the representatives of 27 state cricket associations.