Former India cricketer Vinod Kambli’s friends in England are a worried lot after he had health issues last year. However, he is doing fine now. And, some of his friends in England have recalled the days spent with him in the 1990s and have shared how he never cared for money.

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As India and England are involved in a five-Test series in England, Kambli’s friends in that country have reminisced about the days when he played for a local cricket club in Yorkshire, and his friend, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who too, was also there at that time.

‘Kambli would’ve been a multi-millionaire’

Kambli’s friend Nasa Hussain told Indian Express that Kambli, if he was playing cricket now, “would have been a multi-millionaire”.

Hussain is now the head groundsman at Park Avenue ground in Bradford. He recalled his association with Kambli.

“As a South Asian, Sachin joining Yorkshire was big news.

I’ll tell you what was better, he brought along with him his friend Vinod Kambli, who played in our league. I’ve never-ever met a person who hits the ball as hard as he used to,” he told the newspaper.

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Talking about the first ball he bowled to Kambli, he said, “He just runs down the track and hits the first ball for six, and you think, ‘well okay’. Young man from India, never seen before, never heard of before, and he just comes and smashes it. Subsequently, he went on to score two double-hundreds against England.

That was some talent… In today’s day and age, that guy would have been a multi-millionaire.”

Rejecting part-time job in England

Another person in England, who the publication spoke to was Solly Adams, who was instrumental in bringing more than 300 cricketers from the sub-continent to England to play for local clubs. Solly has written a chapter on Kambli in his book Beyond Boundaries.

Solly said, on the advice of batting great and his friend Sunil Gavaskar, he signed Kambli for Spen Victoria Cricket Club.

Most of the cricketers from the sub-continent did part-time jobs in England when they were playing, but not Kambli and Tendulkar, Solly recalled.

“One day we were sitting, 10 cricketers. All of them had part-time jobs except for Vinod and Sachin. So a cricketer from Mumbai asked Vinod – ‘Since you only earn 25 pound a match, why don’t you work at one of Solly’s places? Kambli didn’t think for a minute, pat came his reply: ‘Me and Sachin will make money playing Test cricket, I don’t want to divert my attention doing part-time jobs.’ That was exceptional, what confidence. He was very young, far from being a Test batsman but he had the confidence,” Solly told the newspaper.

Bonus of 700 pounds

After an outstanding season, Kambli received a bonus of 700 pounds, which was big during the 1990s. Solly went to India to hand over the money to Kambli’s father, he wrote in his book.

“However, Vinod, when he returned to India, took all the money from his father and spent it with his friends … Vinod never cared about money, nor did he have any respect for commodities,” Solly said.

Kambli, one of the most promising youngsters Indian cricket has seen, failed to have a long career. He featured in 17 Tests and 104 ODIs between 1991 and 2000.