Did Vinod Kambli rate himself above Sachin Tendulkar? Brother responds 'both had...'

Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli (BCCI Photos)

Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar are childhood friends and were looked as the brightest cricketing prospects growing up. However, only one between the two attained the fame most anticipated, while the one barreled down as one of the prime examples of talent wasted. And it's obvious we don't need to answer that for you as the stats are there to tell.

But the debate on who was more talented between the two still is discussed among cricket enthusiast. Kambli's younger brother Virendra was asked to reflect his thoughts on the subject during an interview with Vickey Lalwani. "Both had the same talent. You can't say my brother was greater than Sachin or vice versa. They were both the same. I never heard my brother say he was better than Sachin," Virendra said.

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He then went to discuss the great bond between the two. "Sachin dada has always supported Vinod. Their friendship is still very strong. Sachin calls and checks on him with Andrea (Hewitt, Vinod's wife)," Virendra revealed.

"Sachin dada. He was closest to him. I don't know about others, but I saw them together when I went to watch Ranji Trophy matches. I would go to the dressing room to eat, and Sachin dada, Vinod, and I would sit together and have fun. We would joke around and have a good time," Virendra added.

Kambli failed to grow as a cricketer but in his short-lived career, he made 17 Test and 104 ODI appearances and retired with an average 54.2 in the red-ball format. He also smashed two double centuries and four centuries in those 17 matches, and notched a couple of hundreds in the limited-overs format.

Tendulkar, on the other hand, went on to script records galore and build himself the identity of "Master Blaster". He still holds the record for the most runs in the history of cricket in both Tests and ODIs.