A recent viral video of one-time Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli seen struggling to walk has left many cricket fans saddened. Being concerned about Kambli, who has been unwell for a few years now, two of his close- old cricketing friends – his school classmate Ricky and his brother – a First-Class umpire Marcus Couto visited the 52-year-old’s fifth floor flat at the Jewel Cooperative Society in Bandra on Thursday.
Much to Coutos ’and Kambli’s many well-wishers’ relief, the former left-handed batsman, who played 17 Tests (1084 runs) and 104 ODIs (2477 runs) told them that he’s “fit and fine.”
In a video they made from his flat on the fifth floor of the Jewel Cooperative Society flats (where several other ex-Mumbai and Indian players live), Marcus asked him how he was feeling given that people might have been worried about him. In response, Kambli said, “I’m good,” giving a thumbs up sign. “By God’s grace I am surviving. I am fit and fine. Jokingly I will go out bat number three against spinners like we used to play in Shivaji Park!”
The Couto brothers enjoyed themselves at Kambli residence. Describing their emotional meeting at first, Marcus says “We had planned to see him for ten minutes only but ended up spending five hours! We spent almost whole day with his family where we had home-cooked lunch as well as tea all made lovingly by his wife Andrea.”
“We remembered some of his best knocks when he faced the fearsome West Indies quicks in the 1990s, attacked Shane Warne for instance (at Sharjah in 1994), and listened to songs. He was in a jolly mood throughout our stay in his house and regaled us by singing old Hindi movie songs! Though he has some health issues, he didn’t look as fat as what the video shows, but still in good shape. He was eating well too. His statement: ‘I am fine and fit.’ When we mentioned the video, he said it was filmed weeks ago. At that time, he had gone down to buy something, out of the blue he felt dizzy. It wasn’t like he was drunk or something,” continued the 53-year-old.
“He was giving batting tips to his son Cristiano who is also left-handed like him. Andrea meanwhile helped his kids with their homework,” recounts Marcus. The duo later sat Kambli down for brief chats with some of his friends such as former colleague Abey Kuruvilla who is currently BCCI GMs Office Bearers Member (GMs OBMs). President of Mumbai Cricket Association Ajinkya Naik and ex-Mumbai captain Shishir Hattangadi were among others.
“His flat had some leakage on the ceiling but they have sportingly adjusted to that discomfort,” Marcus revealed.
Coincidentally, “it was Marcus who played an influential role in announcing to the world about famous 664-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli back in 1988. Soon after this brilliant partnership, Marcus went to eminent statisticians Anandji Dossa and Sudhir Vaidya before another renowned statistician – Mohandas Menon – finally confirmed this world record.”
It is ironic that Ricky, the brother of Marcus who had also gone to Kambli, was the 12th person for Shardashram Vidyamandir school team to which Tendulkar and Kambli had made a record partnership in that match.
