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Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath


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Friends. As you would now know that we were down for a couple of days due to some hacking. We dont know who/what caused that hack-attack but I wanted to write a cricket article that showed that we cant be kept down, and what better person to be the center-piece of the article than Mohinder Amarnath? The Indian who just could not be kept down. xxx

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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath Indian cricket has been historically blessed with some of the greatest batsmen in Test cricket. Starting with the days of Vijay Merchant, carried on by the likes of Vijay Hazare and Vijay Majrekar, taken to a higher level by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and kept alive with a flourish by the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid today. Atleast the last 3 would be prime candidates for All-Time Test cricket XI. So it might surprise you that if I had to pick one batsman who has to walk to the middle on the greenest of the pitch and against the fastest bowlers of any era I would not select them but would instead go with Mahinder "Jimmy" Amarnath. Mahindar Amarnath was possibly the most humane of all cricket players that India has produced. Watching him play you would wonder if there was anything exceptional about his cricket. If you checked his career statistics you would wonder if one can indeed call a player an all-time great when he has as many bad series(if not more) as he did good ones. As a batsman he did not have the balance of a Sunil Gavaskar or a menacing confidence of a Viv Richards, and as a bowler he might be the only one in cricketing history who actually decelerated when he approached his delivery stride. What was exceptional about Jimmy was his mental strength. Walking to the middle with the red handkie showing up from his pocket he would take the stance, a stance that was opened up so much that at times he met the bowler square on. Like a hero from Indian mythology(Karna from Mahabharta would be apt) he would commence his battle, no quarters given none asked for. He would be hit, on body, face, head, shoulders but kept going on. So much so that he won more battles than he lost and often, if not always, the menacing fast bowler came out second best, indeed many of them claimed Jimmy Amarnath was the best batsman. Jimmy made his debut in late 60's but was in and out of the team till about mid 70's. To be fair he was in and out of the team for most of his career but by mid 70's he had become somewhat stable. The first sign of his character came in India's trip to West Indies in 1975-96. In the 3rd test at Port Of Spain he made a pivotal 85 coming at One down as India chased successfully a then record of 400 plus in the fourth innings to beat West Indies. Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath both scored century but it was Mahinder that held the innings together, batting for as many minutes as Sunil and Vishy put together. He did one better in the next Test when Clive Lloyd decided to let loose his fast bowlers on Indian batsmen. 3 Top Indian batsmen were badly injured(Gaekwad, Brijesh Patel and Vishwanath) as Bodyline was revived. Captain Bishen Bedi chose to declare India's innings at 97 to avoid the bunnies like himself and Chandra to avoid being hit. Of those 97 runs 60 were scored by Mahinder Amarnath including 3 glorious sixes. The next big hurrah came in late 70's Down Under when a Packer ravaged Australian team India. In what was a very close series India lost 2-3 to Australia. This included the last test when India came close to doing unthinkable, chasing about 500 runs to win the Test. Instead India were dismissed for 445 with Amarnath top-scoring with 86. In an earlier game at Perth Amarnath had notched a 100 and a 90 against an attack that included a tearaway called Jeff Thompson on a fast track. It is strange to note that by this time Amarnath had played about 10 years of International cricket with many notable performances but still had not played about 25 tests, thanks to the good wisdom of Indian Selectors. The next few years were even tougher with Amarnath getting hit by bouncers by Richard Hadlee and Rodney "Blond Bomber" Hogg. As the bowlers around the world licked their chops as to attack Amarnath with bouncers, Jimmy knew he had work to do and so he went to his pillar of strength, his Dad Lala Amarnath. Lala characterisically asked him if he wanted to play the bouncers the way most batsmen do, by ducking and letting the ball travel over their head? Or meet it right on. And this is where Jimmy Amarnath was reborn again. It was like he had not only learnt a new trick but that a new spirit had entered his body as he went about making the fast bowlers pay around the world. A rejunevated Jimmy was born, fighting fire with fire, sword with sword...armed with his hook shot that would send fast bowlers ducking for a cover rather than the other way around. In many games he would be felled by a bouncer, then come back, be hit again but keep his ground. Many great players have never been the same after being hit, Zaheer Abbas being case in point, but Amarnath seemed to revel with bouncers. Indeed he was once bounced by Windies bowler, fell on the pitch bloodied, went to get medical attention, came back and hit the next ball, an expected bouncer, outside the ground for a six! Jimmy's hook shot, for lack of better phrase, was beyond comparison. Most classical hookers(Kanhai, Sobers, Kapil Dev and modern day Ponting) take care to hit the ball so it travels between the squar-leg and mid-on, putting an effort to role the wrist so as to keep the ball down. Jimmy instead met the ball at the very last minute. His slightly opened stance now allowed him to watch the ball till the very last second and put the bat to full measure. The net effect was that the ball hit the bat and would travel towards fine-leg, most of the times for a 6. Indeed many a times his shots would still be climbing when they hit the stadium! The purists did not like it and neither did the fast men who were being played like spinners now. Egos hurt they would come back at Jimmy, he would either take the hit or showed them that there was plenty more where that came from. For a period of 4-5 years Jimmy was the best batsman in the world, best batsman at a time when the fast-bowling was as good as it has been in Test cricket history. Between 82-85 Jimmy amassed 2076 runs@53 in 27 tests with 7 centuries. Comparatively Viv Richards had 1918@44 in 32 Tests and Sunil Gavaskar had 2515@44 in 39 Tests.What is further intersting is the 27 Tests played by Jimmy in the period includes 5 tests where he scored a grand total of 8 runs. Take them away and you will know why Imran conceded that Amarnath was the best batsman at the time. Not that he was alone in his complements, the demon pacers from West Indies shared the same sentiments. Amarnath's ascent started with a glorious series in Pakistan where he scored close to 600 runs in 6 Tests with 3 100 and 3 50 at an average of 73. In a series where Imran bowled like any bowler has ever done, Amarnath would more often than not come on tops. This was largely due to the fact that he would play fast bowling on front foot thus effectively negating Imran's late in-dippers. And if and when Imran dropped one short he would use his hook shot to good measure. No wonder by the time series ended Mohinder had won ever the Pakistani paceman. Next stop West Indies and Mohinder carried his good form. In a series where West Indies fielded the deadliest foursome - Roberts, Holding, Marshall and Garner, and where the latter took 64 wickets in 5 Tests, Mohinder scored close to 600 runs again with 2 centuries and 4 50 at an average of 67. While the Indian team boasted of the technicians like Sunil Gavaskar and Vengsarkar it was Amarnath that waged a lonely battle, so much so that even in the first class games against the Islands it was only Mohinder who managed a century. Indeed during this phase there were effectively two players in team - Amarnath and Kapil Dev - and the performance(or lack thereof) of Sunil Gavaskar would draw a wedge between him and Kapil for all times to come. Around this time came the 1983 World Cups and Amarnath delivered stellar performances, specially when it mattered the most. In the semi finals he scored a sedate 46 and took 2 wickets leading India to finals and earning Man of Match in the process. In the finals he scored a composed 26 in a low scoring match and then quickly took 3 wickets with his dibbly dobblies as India won the Tournament. Amarnath was declared Man of the final yet again. It remains the only time a player has won the MOM in semis and finals. Incidentally today when people talk of change of pace with slower ones it is prudent to remember Mohinder Amarnath was doing it 25 years back. But the humane character of Jimmy showed through again as against the very same attack(Windies and Pakistan) he had two lousy series(8 runs in 5 tests) effectively making Selectors drop him. This is also the time when Amarnath made that telling statement of "Indian selectors are jokers". Selectors response? Get Mohinder in the team for the next series! Seems they agreed with him. Next few series he again had some great moments, specially outside India. Somehow it always seemed that he revelled in tough conditions, specially outside India with bowlers breathing fire. His away average(52) is almost 22 more than his average at home(30) and his away average against the 3 top teams of the time are all above 50 - West Indies(55), Pakistan(57) & Australia(56). Indian cricket fans would always remember the spectacle of a smiling Kapil Dev with Mohinder Amarnath holding aloft Prudential Trophy on Lords balcony. Both gentlemen sporting moustache, what they may not know is that Amarnath was wearing the moustache because he didnt want to show to the bowlers on the field that he was hit on the face by Marshall and his lips had 22 stitches in the last series in Carribean. Brave, courageous,chivalorous, valiant?? Nah. To define Mohinder we have to go to his roots of Punjabi/Urdu background and define him as a diler/dileyr/daler , the man who has a big heart and who kept the Indian flag flying under the toughest circumstances. xxxxx

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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath Delicious! Only you could have written it, Lurker! Jimmy had the courage of a bullfighter. The faster they were, the better he played, and preferably in their own backyard. It remains a great mystery to me how a man so supremely strong in the mind, had such a poor record at home. Maybe he just didn't find it as big a challenge as playing abroad! One of my greatest regrets is not having watched him live away against the WI and Imran's Pakistan. I did get my chance though when he featured in an one-dayer against the mighty WI at Keenan stadium. He seemed to have a lot of time, whether he batted, bowled or fielded. I have never seen anybody look so completely unflustered by the occasion. He and Kapil- two lion-hearts. I don't think India will ever see the likes of them together again. Hats off to your passion and eye for detail, Lurks!

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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath Fantastic Writing Lurker :yeah: This should go under your BLog so that it won't end up in the archives. Can you please copy paste this into your BLog Lurker? To do that go to the menu on the left, then BLogs and then My Blogs.

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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath Great writeup on a great batsman. No one can teach anyone to be brave. Some are born like that. Mohinder was truly a maverick. He is a great example for why attitude matters more than talent. I wish our current crop of overrated superstars learn a thing or two from Jimmy's gutsiness

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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath terrific write-up. was taking to blofeld, and he had a very interesting thot. macco, primarily, destroyed a wonderful career when the WIPQ came to IND following the WC83 humiliation. essentially, the entire WIPQ agreed upon one thing: NOBODY could handle their "intimidatory, short-pitch" stuff better than jimmy. so they collectively decided to never bounce jimmy and instead, do the just-short-of-a-length, at pace outside off to jimmy. given his new stance, which was essentially geared to the hook shot, jimmy failed and was never selected again. thanks for the memories, lurker.

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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath

was taking to blofeld, and he had a very interesting thot. macco, primarily, destroyed a wonderful career when the WIPQ came to IND following the WC83 humiliation. essentially, the entire WIPQ agreed upon one thing: NOBODY could handle their "intimidatory, short-pitch" stuff better than jimmy. so they collectively decided to never bounce jimmy and instead, do the just-short-of-a-length, at pace outside off to jimmy. given his new stance, which was essentially geared to the hook shot, jimmy failed and was never selected again. thanks for the memories, lurker.
Rahul I have a question for you. I believe your background places you in a good position to answer this.Let me explain a bit where I am coming from and let me know what you opine about the same. I have often wondered why the exploits of Jimmy Amarnath doesnt get the appreciation it deserves. He played against the deadliest foursome ever assembled and not only held his own but also triumphed, so much so that he made the WIPQ change their game plan. And it was not only the WIPQ(West Indies Pace Quarter) but also the other big guns of International cricket that he succeeded against, in their own backyard! Still his exploits are often lost in cricketing history books. Compare this with say the time when Brian Close was brought out of retirement to face a menacing Michael Holding in 1976 at Manchester. Close and John Edrich faced a barrage of fast bowling, a lot on their body, but held their own. The act is widely celebrated as one of the bravest act ever on cricket field(and according to English journalists the bravest act). But for all the courage of Edrich/Close the fact remains that the two did not impose themselves on West Indies bowlers, indeed put together they barely managed to score 100 in both innings(put together). And of course it was one Test only. Another case in point is the way David "The Bank Clerk who went to war" Steel and his act against Lilly & Thomson, or as the lovely lady christened, Lillian-Thomson. Again Steel's act is widely celebrated even though he had one series at best that was good. Compare this with Jimmy who not only met the ferocious fast bowlers on his own terms, but managed to impose himself on them(consistently mind you) to such a level that they perhaps sat down, looked at each other and said,"Look maan this not working. I say f@ck this short pitch sh@t". In my book Jimmy Amarnath's batting should be on top of braveheart list and way above the valiant exploits of the likes of Close,Steele or later on Lamb and Robin Smith. So why isn't it? Is it because Indian fans don't care? Is it because our scribes fail to celebrate our own heroes? Or is it just the Indian way - we burn our dead? xxxx
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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath Lurker, here is my attempt at answering your query. Too often we try to portray Indians as self loathing or complain that similar or even lesser feats of foreigners are celebrated and appreciated more than our own. I dont think it has much to do with the possibility that Indians in general are self loathers than any other race. In my view it has to do with a consistently substandard media that we have. Great deeds and men get appreciated through the media in one form or the other. Thats how the news of their achievements is spread. What we have had in India for years is an apology in the name of media and quality. Times of India might be the largest selling English newspaper in the world but when you compare their quality to the journalism of New York Times or The Times it comes across as junk. How can some achievement be given a proper perspective and description when it is written in poorly constructed English laden with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and hackneyed writings. On the other hand, a smiliar event lets say in England will be described in the British media through the excellent journalists in The Times or The Independent. Such writings are obviously more likely to make an impact than the trash in the Indian media and their effects are going to last longer too. Same is the case with TV media. The hard work put in by BBC or National Geographic and the high technical standards they set are unmatched by the likes of Zee TV and their ilk, who consistently dole out nonsense. Poor camera work, unimaginative investigations, and nonsensical reportings are what we get. For example, there was an excellent TV series on Bodyline. It made an impact and spread the importance of the series extremely well and captured the essence of what transpired. The Indian media would instead put up the likes of Maninder Singh in similar talk shows if they were asked to make a Cricket program. Why hasn't anyone from India, say made a TV series on the 1975 series in WI where after India chased down a world record total and were 200/1 in the next match beamers and bouncers started flying with support from the umpires. How that moment was the advent of a pace battery etc. If made well, dont you think it has potential to spread that series and its importance to cricket? Sure it does, but why would the British media make something on that. They were not involved. Its upto us to record and disseminate our achievements in an interesting fashion.

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Re: Hall of Fame - Mohinder Amarnath

Amarnath's ascent started with a glorious series in Pakistan where he scored close to 600 runs in 6 Tests with 3 100 and 3 50 at an average of 73. In a series where Imran bowled like any bowler has ever done, Amarnath would more often than not come on tops. This was largely due to the fact that he would play fast bowling on front foot thus effectively negating Imran's late in-dippers.
Lurker, with all due respect , I would beg to differ here. Amarnath was a predominately a back foot player . In fact , early in his career ,Amarnath would get completely off balance when playing the hook shot, consequently falling heavily on his wickets on more than one occasion. In fact , this was during the pre-helmet days before 1978. It was only during post helmet days , he used to come to the front foot more often. Also, the reason why he was successful against reverse swing was because of his open stance pointing towards the leg side. He used to play Imran with minimum footwork and he never used to shuffle to come to the line of the ball in the gavasker mold. This enabled him to play reverse swing better than other batsmen. In fact , batsmen like Sehwag have so much success against Akhtar and co because they don't plant their front foot across too much like batsmen of yesteryears. But not shuffling to the line of the ball has proven to be their undoing against conventional swing especially the out swinger.
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