Shooting Stars

Indian cricket is always bursting at the seams with prodigies, but if things don't go their way soon, the downfall is often steep

- Jayanta Oinam

ON a fateful March evening in 1996, Vinod Kambli left a blazing Eden Gardens in tears, and everything changed for him. With India eight down against Sri Lanka in their World Cup semi-final, the then 24-year-old was India’s last hope. He did plead with the officials to continue the match, but the decision to award the game to Sri Lanka, the eventual champions, had already been made.

A little while ago, Sachin Tendulkar was looking to construct an innings, to help rebuild India after losing his opening partner, Navjot Singh Sindhu, early. Tendulkar got stumped for 65, and when the eighth wicket fell in the 35th over, irate Kolkata fans took matters into their own hands. Kambli was unbeaten on 10 and India 120/8 in pursuit of a 252-run target.

One heroic knock in defeat, and even an improbable chase, would have added another glorious chapter to Indian cricket. But what remains of a player once touted as the next big thing are tattered glimpses of unfulfilled dreams, now being pointed out as a cautionary tale. Add the Tendulkar story, and it reads like a morality play, drawing up polar opposites—one reduced to a caricature and the other elevated to God-like status.

“You've got the talent, but it’s a long race, and you have to sustain it. Everybody can’t have the brains or the maturity of Sachin Tendulkar,” former India seamer Atul Wassan analyses.