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A visibly emotional Kambli made the statement while participating in one of the leading news channel debate on ex-chief of ICC anti-corruption unit Paul Condon’s statement that in the 90s and in the following years all of cricket’s leading countries were involved in fixing major matches.
Kambli said he was suspicious of the captain’s (Mohammed Azharuddin) decision to field first even though it had been unanimously decided that the team would bat after winning the toss. India lost the match against the Lankans who shocked the cricketing world by winning the 1996 World Cup.
Batting first Sri Lanka had set a target of 252 for India. In reply, India too started badly as Chamindas Vaas got rid of Navjot Sidhu at the score of 8. However, with genius Sachin Tendulkar in full command at the crease, India hoped for a comfortable entry into the final.
However, Sanath Jayasuriya bowled a magical spell and very India were reduced from 98/1 to 120/8 that made Kolkata fans go berserk with anger and disappointment. The fanatic cricket buffs set the chairs of Eden Gardens on fire and hurled bottles at the Lankan players in protest against India’s collapse, forcing match referee Clive Llyod to award the match to the visitors.
“I will never forget the 1996 match because my career ended after this and I was dropped from the team. I was stunned by India’s decision to field,” Kambli said in a TV show.
“I was standing on one side and on the other end my fellow batsman was telling me that we would chase the target. However, soon after they quickly got out one by one. I don’t know what transpired.
“Something was definitely amiss. However, I was not given a chance to speak and was dropped soon after. Our team manager at that time Ajit Wadekar was aware of everything. He had even written an article afterwards that Vinod Kambli had been made a scapegoat,” he said.
Kambli said he was shocked when it came to know that they have to field when everybody was mentally prepared to bat.
“We had been playing well during the entire World Cup and even defeated the likes of West Indies and Pakistan to reach the semifinal. Our openers were all set to bat, however, at the nick of time, we learnt we had to field. I got a huge shock after learning this,” he said.
“I cried because I thought I was robbed of a chance to do it for my country. The entire team hugged me. Most of us were crying, he recalled. It was not only Tendulkar and other cricketers’ dream to win the Cup but mine too,” he added.
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