Kambli's case not an isolated one in Indian cricket

Mumbai, July 19 (PTI) Vinod Kambli, the maverick former India batsman and Sachin Tendulkar's childhood friend, has been in the news of late for all the wrong reasons.

Ever the flashy person, Kambli has stirred the hornet's nest by telling a TV reality show that champion batsman Tendulkar had not done enough to prevent him from self-destructing in his prime.

The flamboyant cricketer, however, denied to reporters assembled at a five star hotel in the Mumbai suburbs on July 14 for the official launch of the 2011 Cricket World Cup logo that he had accused Tendulkar of not helping him enough.

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10:17 AM

Channel shows Kambli making remarks against Tendulkar

New Delhi: After vehemently denying that he had accused his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar of not helping him enough, former Indian player Vinod Kambli on Friday found himself on a sticky wicket with visuals showing that he had indeed made the remarks.

A brief video footage of the programme “Sach Ka Samna” beamed on an Indian news channel showed a pensive Kambli admitting that Tendulkar had not helped him enough.

When the anchor of the show specifically asked the former player whether Tendulkar could have done more to save him from his self-destructive habits, Kambli said “I think yes..”

“If I had got a little more motivation when I was self-destructing myself, my career could have been prolonged”, the visual shows Kambli as saying.

The former cricketer had earlier denied having accused Tendulkar of not helping him enough and said such reports had left him and his family shattered.

Kambli, who studied with Tendulkar in the `Shardashram` school, said he had never spoken anything against Tendulkar in the reality TV show and termed the report as “completely baseless”.

“I have never said anything against Tendulkar. He is my friend for 26 years, people should know that I will never say such a thing against my friend. He is currently in London and I will meet him soon,” Kambli had told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Kambli also told the channel on Friday that he had spoken to Tendulkar and the two had “laughed off” the matter.

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10:59 AM