Mohinder Amarnath

Mohinder Amarnath

Amarnath in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj
Born	(1950-09-24)24 September 1950 Patiala,Punjab,India
Nickname	Jimmy
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	Battingall-rounder
Relations	Amarnath family
International information
National side	India(1969–1989)
Test debut (cap125)	24 December 1969 vAustralia
Last Test	11 January 1988 vWest Indies
ODI debut (cap85)	7 June 1975 vEngland
Last ODI	30 October 1989 vWest Indies
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1969–1974	Punjab
1974–1989	Delhi
1984	Baroda
1984	Wiltshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI Matches 69 85 Runs scored 4,378 1,924 Batting average 42.50 30.53 100s/50s 11/24 2/13 Top score 138 102* Ballsbowled 3,676 2,730 Wickets 32 46 Bowling average 55.68 42.84 5 wickets in innings 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 4/63 3/12 Catches/stumpings 47/– 23/–
Medal record Men'sCricket RepresentingIndia ICC Cricket World Cup Winner 1983 England and Wales ACC Asia Cup Winner 1988 Bangladesh
Source:ESPNcricinfo,8 October 2009

Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj(born 24 September 1950) is a former Indiancricketer,cricket analyst and actor. He is the son ofLala Amarnath,the first post-independence captain of India.Mohinder was the vice captain of the Indian team that won the1983 Cricket World Cup,where he was the player of thefinal.He was also a part of the Indian squad which won the 1985World Championship of Cricket.

Mohinder is commonly mentioned by players and cricket pundits as the best Indian batsman against express pace.In 2009, he received theC. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award,the highest honourIndian boardcan bestow on a former player.

Early life

Mohinder was born on 24 September 1950 inPatialaas the second eldest son ofLala Amarnathand Kailash Kumari. His elder brother,Surinderis a former international cricketer while his younger brotherRajinderis a former first-class cricketer.He also has two sisters, Kamala and Dolly.

Education

Mohinder Amarnath did his schooling at MB High School Mandir Marg Delhi. He went toSGTB Khalsa College,Delhi Universityfor his graduation.

Career

Mohinder Amarnath's career performance graph.

Mohinder made his debut againstAustraliaatChennaiin December 1969, as a quick-bowling all rounder. At his peak he was a top order batsman who mainly played at No. 3 for India. He was also handy with the ball, bowling swingers and cutters with great skill and control. He had a unique run-up where he slowed down as he reached the bowling crease. Behind his seemingly lethargic demeanor were nerves of steel.

Mohinder Amarnath played 69 Tests scoring 4,378runsat abatting averageof 42.50, with 11 hundreds and 24 fifties, and claimed 32wicketsat abowling averageof 55.68 apiece. In 85One Day Internationals,he scored 1,924 runs at an average of 30.53 and a highest score of 102 n.o. and claimed 46 wickets at 42.84 apiece.

Accolades

Fiery fast bowlersImran KhanofPakistanandMalcolm MarshallofWest Indieshave praised his batsmanship, courage and ability to endure and master pain. In 1982–83 Mohinder played 11 Test matches against Pakistan (5) and the West Indies (6) and scored over 1000 runs in the two series.

In his book "Idols", Indian legend and compatriotSunil Gavaskardescribed Mohinder Amarnath as the finest batsman in the world.

Mohinder made his first test century at Perth at the WACA (the fastest and bounciest wicket in the world) batting againstJeff Thomson.He followed this test century with another 10 more against top class fast bowling.

Imran Khanregarded Mohinder so highly that in his book "All Round View" he went on record to say that in the 1982–83 season, Mohinder was quite simply the best batsman in the world. Imran further went on to state that Mohinder should have played non-stop for India right from his debut in 1969 to the time he retired. (After his debut series in 1969, he had to wait until 1975 to make it into the team).

1982–83 series in Pakistan

This series sawImran Khanat his lethal best, supported by the cannySarfraz Nawaz.In match after match India crumbled against the fiery pace of Pakistan, losing the Second, third and fourth tests 3–0.Imran Khanwho took 40 wickets in the series was jointly awarded "Man of the Series" with Mohinder Amarnath. The catastrophic series for India hastened the end of the career of master batsmanGundappa Viswanath.Mohinder Amarnath was the sole saving grace for the Indian batting line-up for the series as a whole. (An aside –Sunil Gavaskarcarried his bat in one innings of the series. Sunil Gavaskar scored 434 runs ).

1983 World Cup Performance

Mohinder Amarnath is noted for his performance in the1983 Cricket World Cup.He was awarded "Man of the Match"in the final and semi-final,playing a star role in leading India to their first ever One Day International title and first World Cup win.

In the semi-final against England his accurate seam bowling fetched him the top-order wickets ofDavid GowerandMike Gatting.He gave away only 27 runs in his 12 overs, for an average of a miserly 2.25 an over, the lowest among all Indian bowlers. Returning to bat, he scored 46 runs to give India a solid foundation. He was named the Man of the Match.

In the final, India batted first against the West Indies which arguably boasted the world's best bowling attack comprisingMalcolm Marshall,Michael Holding,Andy RobertsandJoel Garner.India did not fare well, with the entire team being dismissed for a paltry score of 183 in 54.4 overs, well short of the allotted 60 overs. Amarnath's calm and composed batting against West Indian fast bowling gave the Indian innings some much needed stability. He occupied the crease for the longest period (80 balls) and scored 26 runs. Though normally in limited over matches a long stint at the crease is not necessarily a good thing, given that India did not last the entire 60 overs Amarnath's innings gave the batsmen at the other end the opportunity to score. KrishnamachariSrikkanthtop-scored with 38 runs, followed bySandeep Patil(27 runs). After the poor batting performance India's chances were deemed almost non-existent. However, the Indian bowling exploited the weather and pitch conditions, conducive for swing bowling perfectly to bowl out the West Indies for just 140, thus winning the finals by 43 runs. Amarnath andMadan Lalwere the joint highest wicket takers with 3 wickets each. As he had been in the semi-final, Amarnath was once again the most economical bowler, conceding only 12 runs in his 7 overs for an average of 1.71 per over. Again, just like the semi-final, Amarnath was declared the Man of the Match.Amarnath also had the distinction of bagging the match winning wicket. As the vice-captain of the team, he held the World Cup aloft in a famous photograph along with his captain and friend, Indian cricketing legendKapil Dev.

Trials and tribulations

Except for the period 1982–83, Mohinder never held a steady place in the Indian Test side and would frequently get dropped. Mohinder is known as theComeback Man of Indian Cricket.During his two decades at the top, he was dropped from the Indian side on several occasions and each time he fought his way back with sterling performances, playing excellent domestic cricket and making it hard for the national selectors to ignore him.

He was well known for his batting technique, temperament and skill. He even experimented with a side-on batting stance, where one foot was placed at an angle to the crease, giving the body had a more open stance with a better view of the bowler.

Character and Courage

Amarnath was noted for his personality, courage and determination. West Indian cricketing greatVivian Richardscalled him "one of the nicest men to have ever played the game" and former Australian Test opening batsmanDavid Boonsaid "Concede didn't seem to be in his vocabulary".

Gideon Haigh writing in The Age says: "In an era replete with fast bowling and unrestricted in use of the bouncer, he never stopped hooking – despite many incentives to do so. He received a hairline fracture of the skull fromRichard Hadlee,was knocked unconscious by Imran Khan, had teeth knocked out by Malcolm Marshall and was hit in the jaw so painfully by Jeff Thomson in Perth that he could eat only ice cream for lunch. 'What separated Jimmy from the others,' Michael Holding said, 'was his great ability to withstand pain... A fast bowler knows when a batsman is in pain. But Jimmy would stand up and continue.' ".

In the Bridgetown Test during India's tour of the West Indies in 1982–83, Amarnath had to retire for stitches after being hit on the head. On returning to the game, he faced one of history's most lethal fast bowlersMichael Holding.It was a given that Holding would try to intimidate Amarnath by bowling a bouncer, and indeed he did so. While most would expect that a batsman in such a situation would do the prudent thing and duck, instead Amarnath stood his ground and hooked the ball to the boundary. However the West Indies bowling attack comprisingMalcolm Marshallat his best,Michael Holding,Winston DavisandWayne Danielwould wreak their most lethal vengeance upon Amarnath during their 1983/84 tour of India by restricting him to only 1 run in six innings, during which Holding scalped Amarnath three times for a duck. Amarnath had scores of 0,0,0,1,0,0 and was hence dropped just months after his career-high success at the 1983 World Cup.

He played an important role in famous chase in Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1976 tour. He made 85 in the second innings taking India to the brink of historic win.

Amarnath was noted for his conflicts with the Indian cricketing political establishment, famously having called the selectors a "bunch of jokers".This often resulted in his exclusion from the Indian team also.

Trivia

Mohinder had some unique dismissals. He is the only Indian who has been dismissed onhandling the ball.He was dismissed on 9 February 1986 also making him the first one to be dismissed for handling the ball in One-Day Internationals. He is also the only Indian to be dismissed forobstructing the fieldin One-Day Internationals. He has also been dismissed 'hit wicket'.

He is the only International Cricketer in the world to be given out both forhandling the ballandobstructing the fieldin his career

He displayed the unique superstition of carrying a red handkerchief visibly in his trouser pocket while batting.

Cricket Coaching

Mohinder Amarnath presented a popular weekly cricket coaching TV programme in the late 80s/early 90s. The program went by the name of 'Cricket with Mohinder Amarnath'. It featured technique presentation and discussion with guest speakers who were mostly Indian national team members at the time. It had a decent following among the youth of that time who were hooked to Cricket especially after Reliance Cup was held in India in 1987, given that the program was available on the national channel Doordarshan thus taking cricket to the masses. The title song of this program 'Khel hi hain hamara jeevan...' was very catchy. YoungSachin Tendulkar,a 15 years old, was interviewed by Amarnath for the program. Sachin was playing wonderfully in the domestic leagues, and was showing enormous potential. After a year, he was inducted into the Indian team for the Pakistan tour.

Personal life

Mohinder Amarnath is married to Inderjit Amarnath, and they have one daughter.

In popular culture

The 2021 Hindi film83,based on India's 1983 World Cup victory, featuresSaqib Saleemas Amarnath, and Amarnath himself as his father,Lala.Amarnath had played the role of a cricket coach in the 2016 filmDishoom,in which he co-starred Saleem.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role(s)	Notes	Ref(s)
1985	Kabhie Ajnabi The	Himself
2016	Dishoom	Indian cricket team coach
2021	83	Lala Amarnath

External links

• Mohinder AmarnathatESPNcricinfo