Former Australian cricketer and ex-India head coach Greg Chappell has urged the Indian cricketing ecosystem to ensure a robust support structure around young sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi, comparing his meteoric rise to that of a teenage Sachin Tendulkar. Chappell emphasised that talent alone isn’t enough to sustain a long career; it must be nurtured with guidance, discipline, and emotional care.
Vaibhav recently stunned the cricketing world with a breathtaking 35-ball century against the Gujarat Titans — a knock that instantly catapulted him into the limelight. While the innings earned widespread applause, Chappell’s words were a timely reminder that such rapid ascents can quickly derail without the right mentoring.
In his column for ESPNcricinfo, Greg Chappell wrote, “Sachin Tendulkar succeeded as a teenager not simply due to talent but because of a solid support system – a stoic temperament, a wise coach, and a family that protected him from the circus.”
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He also brought up Vinod Kambli, a contemporary of Tendulkar who, despite equal talent and early success, couldn’t cope with fame and its demands. “Kambli’s fall was as dramatic as his rise,” Greg Chappell noted. “Prithvi Shaw is another wunderkind who has fallen but may yet find a way back.”
While Tendulkar went on to amass a staggering 34,357 runs in international cricket and built an enduring legacy, Kambli’s career faded quickly. Despite becoming the first Indian to score back-to-back double centuries in Tests, he played only 17 Tests and 104 ODIs. Off-field struggles and poor lifestyle choices, including reported issues with alcohol, further impacted Kambli’s career and health.
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Greg Chappell stressed that young players like Vaibhav Suryavanshi need a safety net. “Talent can’t be bubble-wrapped, but it can be buffered,” he said. He advocated for licensed child psychologists in elite youth programmes, adding, “The emotional volatility of adolescence demands specialised care.”
Chappell’s message was clear: nurture the talent, protect the person.
