Kapil Dev, the 1983 World Cup-winning captain, and great all-rounder have remarked that Sachin Tendulkar, the legendary Indian batsman, is the perfect combination of skill plus hard effort and that someone with potential but not enough hard work will end up going “the Vinod Kambli route.”

Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar were not only big friends, but they were also the most talked about two polar opposites in the country. In cricketing circles, it’s not unusual to see a Vinod Kambli for every Sachin Tendulkar, as the latter represented a guy with a lot of potentials, possibly even more than Sachin himself! But a person who, in the end, never accomplished anything. Sachin, on the other hand, was Sachin. The Mumbai-born 16-year-old who made his international debut against Pakistan and never looked back.

Legendary Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev stated there are no replacements for enthusiasm, hard effort, and devotion while speaking at Parul University. He used the analogy of Sachin and Kambli to tell kids that they should match their talent with hard effort, just like Sachin, or they would end up like Kambli.

“It’s not uncommon for young people to take up a hobby in order to impress others. I feel it is critical to first love yourself and then bring enthusiasm to anything you enjoy. Passion, hard effort, and devotion are inextricably linked.

“Sachin Tendulkar is the perfect example of talent plus hard work. If you are talented but not hard-working enough, then you can go the Vinod Kambli way. If your destiny is beautiful, why to worry about the road ahead,” he added.

India’s World Cup-winning captain went on to say that he has always been a doer and that a person who is passionate about anything can achieve anything in life.

“I’ve never been one to say much, and I’ve always been a doer.” I believe that if you are truly committed, you can do anything. I used to practice for hours and didn’t know the difference between day and night when I was a kid. I’d be perplexed as to why I couldn’t play at night. When you’re in love with something, you lose track of time and everything else,” Kapil explained.