Mohinder Amarnath
Grit, guts
and gumption personified Amarnath's roller-coaster career, which began
in 1969 and spanned two eventful decades. He was cricket's Frank Sinatra
- the master of the comeback. He started his career as suspect against
short-pitched fast bowling, and finished it as one of the finest and
bravest players of pace. His defining season was 1982-83: coming back
to the side after three years, he stood tall to knock off 1182 runs
- including five hundreds - in 11 away Tests against West Indies and
Pakistan. He crowned the season with back-to-back Man of the Match awards
at the climax of India's World Cup-winning campaign in 1983. But his
world came crashing down again the following home season, when he managed
only one run in six innings against that same West Indian team. "Mr
Amarnought" got the axe. But it wasn't the end: he bounced back
with renewed force and vigour and was soon hooking fast bowlers off
his eyebrows again. He didn't go in for cheap runs - nine of his 11
Test centuries were scored overseas -- and he collected his share of
bruises. He will be remembered as a batsman who didn't flinch in the
face of fire.
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| Full name |
Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj |
| Born |
September 24, 1950, Patiala, Punjab |
| Major teams |
India, Baroda, Delhi, Durham, Punjab, Wiltshire |
| Batting style |
Right-hand bat |
| Bowling style |
Right-arm medium |
| Career statistics |
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| Test debut |
India v Australia at Chennai - Dec 24-28, 1969 |
| Last Test |
India v West Indies at Chennai - Jan 11-15, 1988 |
| ODI debut |
England v India at Lord's - Jun 7, 1975 |
| Last ODI |
India v West Indies at Mumbai - Oct 30, 1989 |
| First-class span |
1966/67 - 1988/89 |
| List A span |
1975 - 1989/90 |
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