Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj (English: Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj ; born- 24 September, 1950, Patiala, Punjab) is one of the famous former cricketers of India (1969-1989). Currently, he is an analyst of a popular game like cricket. Mohinder Amarnath is also known as ‘Jimmy’. Mohinder Amarnath was considered the most expert in facing the fast bowlers of his time. He is the son of India’s first captain Lala Amarnath. His brother Surinder Amarnath was a Test cricketer and Rajinder Amarnath was a first-class cricketer. Mohinder Amarnath was the hero of India’s first World Cup victory in the year 1983.
Mohinder Amarnath was born on 24 September 1950 in Patiala district of Punjab state. His father was Lala Amarnath, a famous Indian cricketer who had touched the heights of cricket. Lala Amarnath had scored the first century for India in international cricket. He was India’s first all-rounder who troubled his opponents not only with the bat but also with the ball. Later, Mohinder Amarnath also did the same thing.
Lala Amarnath, who scored the first Test century for India, was one of the greatest players of Indian cricket. After Lala Amarnath, his elder son Surinder Amarnath captained the Indian schoolboys’ Test team and later scored a century in his first Test like his father. Both of them hold the record of scoring a century in their first Test. Later Mohinder Amarnath made his debut in cricket, who was the hero of India’s first World Cup victory in 1983. Now the third generation of the Amarnath family has also entered the cricket field, when Surinder Amarnath’s 22-year-old son Digvijay Amarnath made his debut in first-class cricket.[1]
Mohinder Amarnath made his debut in 1969 as a quick all-rounder with a fast bowling attack, but at the peak of his career he always came as a top-order batsman who always played at number three for India. He was also adept at bowling and could swing and cut the ball with great skill and control.
Mohinder Amarnath scored his first century in Perth, Australia. At that time, the Kangaroo team included a speed king like Jeff Thomson. The pitch of Perth is said to be the world’s most bouncy and fast pitch. After this, Mohinder Amarnath scored 10 more centuries in Test cricket. In 1982-1983, India had to face a 3-0 defeat in the five-Test series against Pakistan, in that too Amarnath’s performance was amazing and he was jointly awarded ‘Man of the Series’ with Imran Khan. He scored 1000 runs in 11 Tests played against Pakistan and West Indies. He scored 4378 runs in 69 Tests at an average of 42.50 and also took 32 wickets. While in 85 ODIs, he scored 1924 runs at an average of 30.54 and took 46 wickets.[2]
Mohinder Amarnath is known for his successful performance in the ‘Cricket World Cup-1983’. He was awarded the title of ‘Man of the Match’ in the final and semi-final match. In this way, he led India to its first One Day International title. Mohinder Amarnath took the wickets of top order batsmen like David Gower and Mike Gatting in the semi-final against England with his accurate and fast bowling. At that time, he gave only 27 runs in his 12 overs at an average of 2.25 per over. This was the lowest among the runs given by all Indian bowlers. If we talk about batting, he gave a solid start to India by scoring 46 runs.
In the final match, India batted first against West Indies, who controversially boast of having the best bowling attack in the world. The team did not perform well and were bowled out for just 183 runs in 54.4 overs and could not even play the full 60 overs. At this time, Mohinder Amarnath’s calm and neutral batting gave a lot of stability to the Indian innings against the deadly fast bowling of West Indies. He was the only Indian player to stay on the pitch for the longest time. Mohinder Amarnath faced 80 balls and scored 26 runs. Although long stay at the crease is not necessarily a good thing in a limited overs match, but considering that India did not play the full 60 overs, Amarnath’s innings allowed the other batsmen to score.
Chris Srikkanth scored the highest 38 runs, Sandeep Patil scored 27 runs and Amarnath scored 26 runs. After their poor batting performance, India’s chances of victory were almost over, however, Indian bowlers took full advantage of the weather and pitch conditions and bowled out the West Indies team for 140 runs and thus won the final match by 43 runs. Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal were the joint highest wicket takers. Each took three wickets. Like the semi-final, Mohinder Amarnath once again proved to be the most successful bowler in the final match. He gave only 12 runs in his seven overs at an average of 1.71 runs per over. Thus, like the semi-final, he was again declared ‘Man of the Match’.
