Sanjay Manjrekar Narrates How He And Sachin Tendulkar Tried Making Fun Of Vinod Kambli

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has recollected an incident when he and Sachin Tendulkar tried making fun of Vinod Kambli. All three cricketers went on to make their international debut at nearly the same time. The incident between Sanjay Manjrekar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Vinod Kambli dates back to the 1992 World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand.

While Sanjay Manjrekar and Vinod Kambli did not have very successful and long careers, Sachin Tendulkar sure did and an illustrious one. Tendulkar debuted in 1989 and retired in 2013, creating plenty of records in his 24-year career. He is the most-capped player in Test and ODI cricket aside from being the highest run-getter in both formats. The 48-year old also holds the record for the most number of centuries in Tests and ODIs.

Sanjay Manjrekar underlined that, unlike him and Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli was not a regular fixture in the playing XI. Hence, Kambli used to criticize their batting after every performance. The 55-year old revealed that Vinod was unimpressed even after Manjrekar and Tendulkar put on 99 against Zimbabwe.

“Vinod Kambli was a part of our World Cup squad in 1992 but was not able to get consistent chances. Me and Sachin being established players used to play every game. After every game, Vinod used to criticize our batting. Even after we had a partnership of 99 against Zimbabwe, he still had a go at us that our batting was conservative,” Manjekar told during Sportskeeda Tales.

Kambli finally got his chance against Pakistan: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar further claimed that when Kambli got his opportunity to bat, he maintained a strike rate of 54 against eventual champions Pakistan. Hence, when Manjrekar and Sachin tried being critical of that, Vinod defended by saying that the bowling was tight. Thus, Sanjay heaped praises on his sense of humour.

“Kambli finally got his chance against Pakistan and there he scored at a strike-rate of about 54. Me and Sachin decided that this was our chance to take a friendly dig at him. But this time he told us that their bowling was too tight. So he always had a great sense of humor,” he added.

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