Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has promised to help ex-cricketer Vinod Kambli amid concerns over his physical and mental well-being. Recently, Kambli attended a function honouring the late Ramakant Achrekar, who coached him and Sachin Tendulkar at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Several videos went viral on social media where Kambli even struggled to get up, speak clearly, and properly conduct himself. Seeing his current condition, several fans raised concerns over the well-being of Kambli, who is also going through a financial crisis.
During an interaction, Gavaskar revealed that the 1983 World Cup-winning team is indeed looking to help Kambli.
“I think the ’83 Team is very conscious of our younger players. They are like our sons. We are very concerned about our cricketers, particularly when fortune deserts them. So, I don’t think the word I want to help him is right. What the ’83 team wants to do is take care of him, and help him to get back on his feet. How we will do it, we will see in the very near future. We want to take of him, of cricketers on whom fortune is not smiling on them sometimes. That’s want the ’83 group want to do,” Gavaskar told India Today.
Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a member of the 1983 side, also revealed that he and his teammates would be more than happy to help Kambli financially, but only if the former batter was willing to enroll in rehab.
“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. 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 last” Sandhu told Times of India in a separate interaction.
As per Times of India, Kambli had gone to rehab 14 times, but to no avail.
Kambli played 17 Tests and 104 ODIs for India between 1993 and 2000. He is the fastest Indian batter to score 1000 Test runs, a record which stands till date.
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