Former cricketer Vinod Kambli stirred up a hornet's nest by “openly challenging” Rajasthan Royals player Sanju Samson to either score a hundred in the ongoing edition of the IPL or to hold on to the Orange Cap—given to the top run-getter—till the end of the tournament.
The 23-year-old Malayali cricketer leads the batting chart currently, with 239 runs in six matches at an average of 47.80. It includes a swashbuckling unbeaten 92 off 45 balls with 10 sixes and two boundaries against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Kambli, who has courted controversy in the past with his comments on his relationship with long-time friend and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, started off the Twitter war, criticising the commentators for being effusive in praise for Samson in the match against Mumbai Indians. The youngster scored a match-winning knock of 52.
#IPL2018. The amount of talking going on by the Commentators about#Sanju Samson about his domestic season and IPL season like they don't have anything else to talk about. So boring 🤔🤔🤔
— VINOD KAMBLI (@vinodkambli349) April 22, 2018
He went on to say that the commentators do not have “any clue” about Indian players and their domestic performances. Soon, fans of Samson and cricket lovers took offence to the former cricketer's comment. While some slammed Kambli for being 'jealous' of Samson, others urged him to support the talented youngster.
Kambli responded personally to some Twitter users, and while replying to one of the tweets, he said that if Samson scores a hundred or keeps the Orange Cap till the end of the tournament, then he will admit that Samson has “got something special”.
I openly challenge him if you people say that he is a class player then I want to see him getting a hundred or for how long will he keep his orange cap in IPL. If he does it then I will say that he is got something special. All the best Sanju Samson https://t.co/JoCAfViKcG
— VINOD KAMBLI (@vinodkambli349) April 23, 2018
With Samson only marginally ahead of players like K.L. Rahul, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Chris Gayle in the run-getters list, he might lose the cap by the time Rajasthan Royals play the next match on April 29 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, it will be interesting to see whether the Malayali lad will pick up the gauntlet thrown by Kambli.
While Samson has represented the senior Indian team in one T20I, Kambli has played 17 Tests and 104 ODIs for India.
Kambli and Tendulkar shot to fame with a world record 664-run stand in the semifinal of the Harris Shield Tournament in 1988. While the latter went on to achieve legendary status, Kambli's career failed to take off after a promising start—two double centuries and two centuries in the first seven Tests.
Later, in an interview, he accused Tendulkar of “not doing enough” to help him out with his cricketing career. It led to a long rift between the two former close friends, though they seem to have put the past behind them recently.