Kapil Dev on Vinod Kambli: Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev on Monday urged former India batsman Vinod Kambli to pay attention to his health issues, saying he needs to make efforts himself to overcome the crisis.
Kambli is suffering from alcohol related and other health problems. Recently, during a public program organized in the memory of legendary coach Ramakant Achrekar, the 52-year-old former player appeared very weak. He was seen stopping his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar from leaving.
Kapil expressed grief over Kambli’s condition and stressed the need for outside help as well as self-help. Kapil said, “We all should try to support him. But he has to support himself more than us. If a person can’t take care of himself, we can’t take care of him.”
He said, “All the cricketers are very saddened by what we have seen. I want his closest friends to get him some help so he can take care of himself and get back into rehab. People get this disease but you have to go back to rehab.” Former left-handed batsman Kambli has battled several health challenges over the years. He had to undergo ‘angioplasty’ in 2012. After this, he suffered a heart attack in 2013. Struggling with alcohol addiction, he had to go to rehabilitation several times. This had a significant impact on his overall health.
Kambli has scored 2477 and 1084 runs in 104 ODIs and 17 Tests respectively for India. Kambli had made a historic unbroken partnership of 664 runs with Tendulkar at the school level.