Sachin Tendulkar inspires Vinod Kambli to take up coaching role

Former Indian teammates Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli are well known for their partnerships on the field and friendship off it. Kambli, who played his last international match for India against Sri Lanka in 2000, has now turned to coaching. And he credited the ‘Master Blaster’ for bringing him back on a cricket field and prodding him to take the step of becoming a coach.

Both Tendulkar and Kambli, who later went on to represent India were students of famed coach Ramakant Achrekar. Under his guidance, the duo posted a then record partnership of 664 in the Harris Shield Tournament in 1998.

The 45-year-old left-hander looks extremely upbeat at the prospect of coaching youngsters and preparing them for the future. According to Kambli, he would like to inculcate the next generation of cricketers with the values he learned from Achrekar.

Vinod Kambli’s real passion is in cricket

The former India international was present at the inauguration of the Shirke Infrastructure Cricket Coaching Academy at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKCA) of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) where he will be conducting the sessions. Kambli also conceded that post-retirement he tried his hand at other ventures like commentary or being a cricket expert on television, but found his real passion was in cricket.

Speaking to reporters, Kambli, who was the first Indian to score two back to back double hundreds said, “Sachin (Tendulkar) knows how much I love cricket, so he said to me why don’t you start coaching, so I would say that I have embarked a path which he (Tendulkar) has shown and I have started on it.”

He added, “So I would say that he (Tendulkar) has a big hand in bringing me back on to the field. Whatever we have learned from (Ramakant) Achrekar Sir, so I think the time has come, that to pass it on to the next generation, if the youngsters can take advantage of this, it will be great.”