19 Interesting facts about Mohinder Amarnath - Brilliant on the field, Fearless of it

19 Interesting facts about Mohinder Amarnath – Brilliant on the field, Fearless of it: Right from his debut Mohinder Amarnath saw the ups and downs of cricket like nobody did. He had an absolute roller coaster ride with gigantic peaks and disappointing lows. Tremendous grit and determination is what defined Amarnath in his playing days. He deservedly came to be known as the comeback king for his inspired returns whenever the experts ruled out any such possibility. On his 65^th birthday let us look at some facts you need to know about the gutsy India all-rounder:

19 Interesting facts about Mohinder Amarnath – Brilliant on the field, Fearless of it:

1. A long wait after debut

Mohinder made his debut against Australia at Chennai  in December 1969, as a quick-bowling all-rounder. After that, he had to wait until 1975 to return to the side.

2. The attributes

He was pretty handy with the ball, swinging it 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 demeanour were nerves of steel.

3. Career in numbers

Mohinder Amarnath played 69 tests scoring 4,378 runs at a batting average of 42.50, with 11 hundreds and 24 fifties, and claimed 32 wickets at a bowling average of 55.68 apiece. In 85 One 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.

4. The siblings

His brother Surinder Amarnath was a Test player. Another brother Rajinder Amarnath is a former first class cricket and current cricket coach.

5. A proud son

Commonly known as “Jimmy”, he is the son of Lala Amarnath, the first post-independence captain of India.

6. Unparallel

His defining season was 1982-83. Coming back to the side after three years, he stood tall to knock off 1182 runs – including five hundreds – in 11 away Tests against West Indies and Pakistan.

7. What an occasion

Things got better in 1983, when he played a major part in India’s successful World Cup campaign. His all-round performances in the semi-final and the final saw him get back to back Man of the Match awards, apart from being declared the Man of the Series.

 8. The trough

1984, turned out to be quite contrary to the previous 2 seasons. On the West Indies tour he managed only 1 run in 6 innings, a dismal show which got him the axe from the national side.

9. The memorable comeback

After being ruled out by most, he bounced back with renewed force and vigour and a much better batsman. Early on in his career he was susceptible to short pitch stuff but later went on to become one of the finest players of short pitch bowling.

10. The accolades

In his book “Idols”, Indian legend and compatriot Sunil Gavaskar described Mohinder Amarnath as the finest batsman in the world, while Imran Khan called him the best batsman in the 1982-83 season.

11. The semis and the finals

He made valuable contributions with both bat and ball in the 1983 World Cup. In the semis he scored 46 runs and took 2 wickets while on the all important day of the final he scored 26 crucial runs apart from taking out 3 West Indian batsmen. Years later he summed it up  beautifully “Wherever Indian cricket is today, it started in 1983. And we never thought about it when we achieved.”

12. Critics have a look

He didn’t go in for cheap runs – nine of his 11 Test centuries were scored overseas. He will be remembered as a batsman who fought fire with fire. Known to be a brave person most of his runs came on the toughest of tracks.

13. A fighter

Amarnath has had his fair share of blows against the pacers – knocked out teeth, fractured jaws and countless hits to the ribs but never has been an instance where Amarnath has shown pain on the field. This attitude earned him the respect of his peers and opposition alike.

14. Interesting

He started his career as a quick bowling all-rounder but later went on to become a top order batsman who bowled sharp cutters at a medium pace.

15. The BCCI honour

He was Awarded the CK Nayudu lifetime achievement award by the Indian cricket board in 2009.

16. Truly unique

Mohinder Amarnath is the only ODI batsman to be dismissed both “handled the ball” (1986)and “obstructing the field” (1989).

17. LOL!!

Amarnath, in his playing days, famously called the selectors “a bunch of jokers” after he was dropped from the side.  Little did he realise that he would become one himself later on.

18. The Coaching Role

Post retirement, Amarnath worked with a young Bangladesh side in the early 90s, but was axed after they failed to qualify for the 1996 World Cup. He also gave his services to the Bengal Ranji team.

 19. The much debated controversy

On India’s 2012 tour of Australia, Amarnath claimed that the selectors had decided to remove Dhoni as India’s skipper but were vetoed by board president N Srinivasan. A north zone selector that time, who was expected to be crowned the chief selector later on, Jimmy was unsurprisingly shown the door for taking on the Srinivasan- Dhoni establishment.