Moment of truth

Vinod Kambli's claims that he got a raw deal in Indian cricket due to his caste and colour are questionable.

Before Independence, there was vibrant domestic cricket, with many of the teams constituted on religious lines. Curiously, the format made room for all castes. Thus, the Palwankar brothers — Baloo, Vithal, Shivram and Ganpat — were stalwarts at the gymkhanas. Baloo in fact made a name for himself on the all-India tour of England in 1911. They, and the other so-called ‘untouchables’, were served tea in clay cups, which were easy to dispose of since they were not meant to be used again. But they were stars all right.

Now, the (clay) pot “appears” to have been stirred once again by Vinod Kambli — “appears”, because one is not sure whether to believe reports about what Kambli said on a new reality show or his subsequent denial. But he “apparently” said that he did not get a fair deal from the Indian cricket establishment because of his caste and perhaps colour.

Kambli was a true prodigy. He outscored Sachin Tendulkar in their world record partnership of 664 for their school Shardashram. Kambli made his India debut three years after Tendulkar, who had lived up to the hype created around him by scoring a century on his Ranji debut, and some glittering batting from the early stages of his international career. But Kambli, when he got to play for India, started very well. In his first seven Tests, he made two double centuries and as many centuries.

Yet, he played the last of his 17 Tests in 1995, when he was just 23, despite a very healthy average of 54.20.

But perhaps those first seven Tests were his best. As happens so often with dazzling starters, Kambli found it difficult to keep the show going. He could kill the spinners — he once famously clouted 22 runs in one Shane Warne over — but more often than not got himself into a tangle when facing the rising short ball. In the later stages of his India career — he played a few ODIs after that last Test — he looked somewhat out of his league. There is also talk of issues over his conduct. According to a former BCCI loudmouth, Mohammad Azharuddin had in 1999 written a letter to the board complaining that Kambli misbehaved in the dressing room.

So, it is questionable whether Kambli’s caste and colour played a role in his omission. There is also the case of Eknath Solkar, from a low caste, who was a regular member of the national team in the 1960s and 1970s on the strength of his fielding alone. In the last few decades, we have had at least two Muslims and one Sikh as the national captain, commanding a liberal sprinkling of all hues.