Mohinder (Jimmy) Amarnath was the maverick son of his maverick dad Lala Amarnath who hailed from Lahore, known as the Cricket and Hockey capital of undivided India before the partition. It is said that the young, handsome and talented Lala Amnarnath was so popular in Lahore that he could probably have won an election over there.
The senior Amarnath was also a martinet - a strict disciplinarian who never compromised with his principles. He prevented his sons from playing any sports other than cricket. For him attack was the best method of defence, teaching his kids to hook a bouncer rather than leave it alone.
Mohinder inherited his father's traits - he would resist wearing helmet for way too long in spite of being hit on his head multiple times while attempting hooking from speedsters, from Thompson to Malcolm Marshall. As a coach of the nascent Bangladesh team he would make team he made them go through rigorous fitness drills, just as his father did to him and his brothers.
Jimmy, as Mohinder went by his popular nickname was on and off Indian team multiple times since he made his debut as a teenager in 1969. A formidable player of fast bowling, he made his comeback by scoring a century and a 90 on the fast, bouncy track of Perth in 1977 facing the fiery Jeff Thompson at his fastest.
But he lost his place in the team soon after. He was back in the Bombay test of 1979 against the Kim Hugh's touring Aussies wearing a Sola Topee (Hat). No sooner he was at the crease, than he was out trying to hook and fell on the wicket - declared out hit wicket only to lose his place in the Indian team yet again.
His penchant for getting out in unusual manner resurfaced 7 years later. In early 1986 during an World Series game against Australia he got out handling the ball. An apparently embarrassed Jimmy later admitted his act of stopping the ball rolling on towards the stumps was a pure reflex action. Amarnath as usual was a maverick, on an off the field.
Post his collapse on the wicket in 1979, many thought they saw the last of Mohinder only to be proved wrong yet again. The gritty, "Never say die attitude" never died inside him. After 3 years in the wilderness, he came back with a bang. A new, renovated, refurbished Jimmy with an unusual "angled feet side on" stance scored the highest in the Ranji Trophy final in 1982, leading his team Delhi to victory.
But it wasn't enough for him to get aboard on the tour to England that summer, as Sunil Gavaskar, the blue eyed boy of BCCI packed the 16 member squad with so many from his Bombay team that it looked more like the Bombay Ranji team than Indian cricket team. Amarnath lost his place in the team to the likes of Ghulam Parker and Suru Nayak who faded into oblivion after that tour.
A few months later Amarnath was back in the Indian team touring Pakistan. It was here he carved his niche. He proved his mettle by standing up to Imran Khan whose reverse swing caused havoc in Indian batting lineup. Jimmy stood like a wall as Indian batsmen collapsed like pack of cards, scoring 3 centuries and at least a fifty.
He also stood firm against the famed Caribbean battery of fast bowlers in the tour that followed. Couple of months later, his all round performance as "The Man of the Match" in both the semi final and the final of 1983 World Cup enabled India, a 40-1 outsider to snatch out an improbably win against the fancied Windies side to win the coveted Cup of Cricket.
His performance heaped paeans of praise, with Clive Lloyd and Imran proclaiming Amarnath as the best player against fast bowling. Imran said later - If Jimmy belonged to Pakistan I would have ensured him a permanent place in the team. It was a huge compliment coming from the strongman of India's bete noire neighbor who is no fan of India or Indians.
Mohinder continued playing for India, playing a big role in India's win in the limited overs World Championship held in Australia in early 1985. In 1988, the strapping 6 feeter and still super fit stood like a rock to script India's victory against its arch rival Pakistan in the Asia Cup at Dhaka, at a time when India's loss to its western neighbor was a rule rather exception. That was the time he made the cardinal mistake of calling the mercurial and dictatorial BCCI selectors -"A bunch of jokers".
Soon he paid the price, as he was promptly and unceremoniously dropped from Indian team. It is to be noted that Sunny bhai who once ascribed the Indian selectors as "Court Jesters" was spared for the reasons best known to him and the selectors. It can very well be attributed to the politically correct Little Master's uncanny ability to be on the right side at the right time.
At 38, curtains came down on Jimmy Amarnath's career when he was fit and performing, with at least couple of years of cricket left in him. A maverick son like his maverick father, he paid the price of being too blunt.
Less than a year later there were rumors of Amarnath being offered Rs.1 Crore (10 million) post tax by the Apartheid led regime of South Africa to lead a Rebel Tour to The Proteas - a gargantuan figure for a cricketer at that time. It didn't work out. The team of retirees and those on the verge of retirement led by Jimmy Amarnath chickened out in the last moment. When later queried about it - the straight talking JImmy used his typical smiling smirk to neither confirm nor deny that incident.
Not sure if he ever regretted it, for Rs.10 million, post tax was a substantial amount back then in 1989 which could have been a nice cricketing gift to the cricket stars who spent most of their time earning a paltry amount compared to their counterparts these days. Ironically South Africa was welcomed to the cricketing fraternity only a couple of years later in 1991, so also those who were once part of Rebel tours before. Happy 72nd birthday to Mohinder Amarnath.
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