Biography

Mohinder Amarnath is a former Indian cricketer and one of the finest batters against some of the top fast bowling attacks like the West Indies, Australia, and England of the 1970s and 1980s. He played a major role in Indias famous victory in the 1983 World Cup which earned him a Man of the Match in the finals. Kapil Dev with the World Cup trophy alongside Mohinder Amarnath.He is known for some unique dismissals in international cricket. He is the only Indian to be given out handling the ball against Australia on 9 February 1986. Not only this, but he was also given out obstructing the field and hit wicket which earned him a rare distinction of being the only cricketer to do so. Mohinder Amarnath returning to the Pavillion after given out obstructing the field.He was born at a time when his father, a star cricketer was employed by the Maharajas to encourage the development of the game. He used to practice in a field where his father planted pots depicting the fielders and allowing Mohinder to pierce the gaps and learn the art of placement. He was also taught to play steep bouncers aggressively rather than merely tucking a ball.His first international century came at the WACA, Perth which is among the bounciest tracks in the world. Then soon he scored ten more centuries against the bowlers like Jeff Thompson, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, and Michael Holding. He was more lethal against Caribbeans where he managed to score 600 runs in five test matches against them at an impressive average of 66.44.He made his first-class debut for Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts in the Moin-Ud-Dowla Trophy in 1966-67. He was in the squad which toured England and Australia in the late 60s. This series led to the rise of yet another players like Brijesh Patel, Karsan Gavri, and Syed Kirmani. Soon, he started playing for Northern Punjab in Ranji Trophy. Mohinder Amarnath during his early days.After playing merely ten first-class games, he got the call from an Indian side at an age of 19 to play against Australia in the fifth test at Madras under the captaincy of Nawab of Pataudi Jr. At first, he was a swing bowler who could bat as well. He batted at 8th position and scored 16 runs in the first inning and duck in the second. But he managed to scalp important wickets of Keith Stackpole and Ian Chappell, both bowled. Still, he couldnt make a mark on the selectors. He had to wait for almost seven years to play his second international game.During that time he played 72 first-class games with his maiden century in his 61st game and 2509 runs at an average of 29.52. He was also a slow medium-pace bowler where he took 29 wickets at 29.39 runs per wicket.In his second international game in 1976, he batted decently against New Zealand at Auckland with a brave 64 runs and took important wickets. He took 4 for 63 in the second test at Christchurch which remained his career-best bowling till date. His brother Surinder Amarnath was also impressive with a bat scoring hundred during that series. Mohinder Amarnath playing a cut during the Christchurch Test in February 1976.Soon he discovered that he is more of a batter rather than a bowler when the world witnessed Amarnaths bravura where he scored fighting 85 runs playing at number three against World champion West Indies at Port of Spain. India chased the target of 400 runs with ease. In that series, Michael Holding and Wayne Daniel were at their peaks. Still, he smashed three sixes against them.The next series was disappointing against England in 1976-77 at home. Following that series, he scored 445 runs against Australia in five tests led by then the fastest bowler in the world Jeff Thompson at their homeland. One delivery of Jeff Thompson hit Jimmy on his head so badly that he could eat only ice cream at lunch. He ended the series with 86 runs at Adelaide. Though India lost the series 3-2 but he made a mark as their best batter after Viswanath and Gavaskar.