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Forgotten Warriors: S 2 Ep 1Mohinder Amarnath.
WI vs Ind: 4th test: Bridgetown: 1982-83:
Ind 13-2, day 2:
On a murky weather against the pace quartet of Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, & Joel Garner, Ind had sent the comeback king Mohinder Amarnath at no.3
Indian team was served with short balls. However, Amarnath who had already decided to hook anything above his shoulder started hooking Roberts, Holding, & Garner for sixes. In total, Amarnath hit 6 fours & 3 6s until he was dismissed on 91 by Marshall that triggered collapse..
India were dismissed for mere 206. Amarnath has scored 45% of the runs in the 1st innings. West Indies batsmen then made mockery of the Indian bowling by amassing 486 runs in their 1st innings. Indians looked dejected and soon lost their 1st wicket too in the 2nd try.
In came Amarnath who after surviving the early moments gets hit on the jaw when he was batting on 18. He was taken immediately to the hospital where he got 6 stitches on his jaw with his shirt full of blood. However, when he came back from the hosp into the dressing room..
.. India had again lost a wicket. . @LaxmanSivarama1 who was the 12th man saw Amarnath pull on the bloodied shirt and marched out to bat. The first ball on his return was guess what? Yeah, it was the bouncer. What did he do? Well, he hooked it four. Courageous isn't he?
He then goes onto add 58 more runs to his tally. While his knock did not help India from a test defeat, it did save us from an innings defeat. The courageous innings was applauded and appreciated by the likes of Michael Holding and Sir . @ivivianrichards as well.
So was Amarnath courageous only in this test?
Ofcourse not. There is a reason why Amarnath was called as the comeback king or the comeback man of Indian cricket. He made his debut in 1969 and played 64 tests until he last played in 1988. In the 19 yr long period, he played..
Ofcourse not. There is a reason why Amarnath was called as the comeback king or the comeback man of Indian cricket. He made his debut in 1969 and played 64 tests until he last played in 1988. In the 19 yr long period, he played..
69 tests and missed 64 tests. He was also hit/injured many times. Infact before he came back into the Indian team in 1982 to play against Pak, he had fractured his skull when he tried to hook Richard Hadlee. He was once hit wicket off Rodney Hogg.. 
When he tried to hook him but instead the ball hit him on his head and he lost his control and ended up falling on the wicket. Yet, Amarnath did not give up. He went back to the domestic team. Opened his stance & started wearing a helmet. The change was immediate... 
.. as he scored 584 runs (highest for India) at an avg of 73 against formidable Pak side. India lost the series badly and Amarnath was the only saving grace. Amarnath followed his form to the West Indies. It was India's only series in WI against pace quartet.
India lost the 1st in a nail biting finish and the 4th on the fastest track, India had Amarnath who scored 91 and 80. As Ashok Malik describes in @ESPNcricinfo weekly, the courage, grit and determination showed by Amarnath everytime the world had given up on him..
..was exemplary. In midst of his test success, Amarnath also helped India become World Champions where he scored 80 runs vs former world champions WI in the group stage and then scored 26 to help Ind score 183 & took 3-12 in the finals to help India dismiss WI for 140..
He was awarded the player of the match award in the final. Overall, Amarnath averaged 44.5, was 4th in list among Indians, and scored 979 runs in 13 games that involved one or all of the 4 fast bowlers (Roberts, Malcolm, Holding, and Garner). 12th overall.
His courage, fighting spirit and never giving up attitude not only helped him get national call up even at age of 33 but also helped him sustain his emotions during testing times (scored 60 in 1976 in the test that defined test cricket for next decade and established WI...
..dominance in the next decade when they bundled India out for 97 with 5 off India's player were absent hurt). His calm demeanor, ready to learn and change attitude adding to the above mentioned qualities of being a fighter made him one of the best.
Thess are the same qualities that we as Indians need in these testing times. The courage to never give up, the courage to try, to change and to stand on our belief. Hope we learn from Amarnath sir and overcome the COVID hurdle together.
I also hope this thread brings smile on your faces.. For some this might be a chance to learn about the history, for some it might be a flashback. Hope it helps u stay positive. Do post your feedback. Thank you. Tc. Stay safe. Mask up.
