A tale of two terrors!! (A nice Article about Sachin and Kambli)

James Apr 12, 2008

The story of Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli has come to mean several things to Indians. It is a tale of conservation and flamboyance. Of focus and distraction. Of what can be and, sadly, of what might have been. But there was a time when faith in their abilities was absolute. They played for no-one but themselves, and that was enough for a city that needed a new generation of heroes. This is a story about the days when the two broke a record, and shattered the wills of many along the way.

It was not unusual to hear Tendulkar's name in random conversations on the local Bombay trains in 1988. His run-making for Shardashram Vidyamandir School was extraordinary, and though he had not played first-class cricket yet, there was an aura about him. We often say that the country expects him to score a century in every game. Back then, his team knew he would score a hundred every time he batted. Kambli, on the other hand, was as likely to score a flashy fifty as a brilliant 150. He was a star, but hadn't qui