Vinod Kambli (centre) during the launch of his coaching nets at Bandra Kurla Complex yesterday. Pic/Prakash Parsekar

Eighteen years after playing his last game for India (vs Sri Lanka in Sharjah), Vinod Kambli has entered the coaching fray. Kambli, 45, kicked off his new innings yesterday when he began coaching the children of Mumbai Cricket Association Recreation Centre's members at Bandra (East). He was quick to remember the days when he was coached by Ramakant Achrekar at Shivaji Park. "Like a lot of coaches, Achrekar sir too used to say that practice makes a man perfect. But sir's thinking was different. He used to also say that perfect practice makes one perfect and so all of sir's students used to have perfect practice. I would like to follow sir's guru mantra," said Kambli.