Referring to players like Vinod Kambli as his ‘son’, Gavaskar said the members of the 1983 World Cup-winning team will get together to take care of him.India’s first-ever World Cup-winning team of 1983 will take care of Vinod Kambli and help him get back on his feet, confirmed legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, a few days after the captain of that team, Kapil Dev, indicated the same. Concerns over Kambli’s health reached new heights after a video of the former India cricketer clinging onto childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar during a memorial event for legendary coach Ramakanth Achrekar went viral. In a couple of videos that went viral, Kambli was first seen holding Tendulkar’s hands and refusing to let it go.
In another video, Kambli was seen singing a famous Bollywood song where there seemed to be some problem with his speech. These recent videos added to the shock factor which was generated in August when a video of Kambli failing to walk went viral. Referring to players like Kambli as his ‘son’, Gavaskar said the members of the 1983 World Cup-winning team will get together to take care of Kambli, who has been battling severe health issues in recent times.
‘1983 team will take care of Vinod Kambli’
“The 1983 team is very conscious of the younger players. For me, they are like grandsons. If you see their age, some are like sons. e are all very concerned, particularly when fortunes desert them. I don’t like the word help. What the 83 team wants to do is take care of him. We want to take care of Vinod Kambli and help him get back on his feet. How we will do, we’ll see in future. We want to take care of cricketers who are struggling when fortunes don’t smile on them,” Gavaskar, who is currently in Adelaide as part of the broadcasting team covering the India vs Australia second Test, told Sports Today.
Gavaskar’s comments come a couple of days after former India pacer Balwinder Singh revealed that Kapil Dev got in touch with him regarding Kambli’s health and promised to offer help. “Kapil (Dev, captain of the 1983 team) has told me clearly that if he wants to go to rehab, then we are willing to help him financially,” Sandhu said. “However, he has to check into rehab himself first. Only if he does that, we are ready to foot the bill, irrespective of how long the treatment lasts,” Sandhu added.
Kambli, Tendulkar’s childhood friend, got off to a sparkling start in international cricket with double centuries against England and Zimbabwe. His career, however, stopped at just 17 Tests. He never played a Test after 1998 despite averaging 54 in the format.
