Was Vinod Kambli self-destructive or a victim of circumstances?

New Delhi: If one goes through the record books and looks at a player who scored 2 double hundreds,4 100s and average of 54 in just 17 test matches. He would stop there and try to find some answers.Is Vinod Kambli a success or a failure? Was he self-destructive or a victim of circumstances? Kambli has always been know as a recklessly flamboyant character who will do anything, even a reality TV show that may endanger his relationship with his closest friend, to be in the limelight.Some would say he was an alcoholic who lost his way after a brilliant start to his international cricket career or a rare sportsman the Indian cricket authorities made no effort to counsel and support in the same way as the Australian cricket board counselled and backed Ricky Ponting.Kambli has been a puzzle all through his cricketing career and afterwards, a controversial one at that.Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli made their Kanga League debuts together. Kambli's initiation into senior club cricket was a bizarre incident. His father Ganpat Kambli took him when he was barely five feet tall, to a secretary of a club and requested him to play his son. The secretary took one look at Kambli and said, “The fast bowlers will kill him. I don't want to take the risk of playing a kid in our side.” Kambli's father tried to persuade him for close to three hours, but was unsuccessful. The next Sunday, Kambli went to Shivaji Park to watch Sachin play his first Kanga League fixture for the ‘F' division John Bright Club. The club was a player short and asked Kambli to play for them. Kambli, who was always geared up for a challenge, scored a scintillating 80 against the same club that had refused to play him a week before. Sachin scored five in the same game.Kambli hails from Indira Nagar, Kanjurmarg, a suburb of Mumbai.The small patch of land that served as his first cricket pitch was surrounded on all sides by high-rise buildings.The scoring system was dictated by the lack of space, and the higher a batsman hit the ball into the buildings the more runs he scored. It explains why Kambli was one of the best over-the-top hitters of spin bowling.He shared an unbroken partnership of 664 runs in a school match against St. Xavier's School, Fort, with Sachin Tendulkar.[ Kambli contributed 349 runs before their coach Acharekar forced the pair to declare; he then took 6 wickets for 37 in St. Xavier's first innings. Kambli, who started his Ranji trophy career with a six off the first ball he faced, soon followed Sachin in to the Indian team. Kambli made two double-centuries and two centuries in seven tests. He played his last Test match at the age of 24 and formally announced his retirement from first class cricket on 22 September 2011. He played his last ODI in the year 2000.