Mohinder Amarnath

Lore & Background

Mohinder is commonly mentioned by players and cricket pundits as the best Indian batsman against express pace. In 2009, he received the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour Indian board can bestow on a former player. He was born on 24 September 1950 in Patiala as the second eldest son of Lala Amarnath and Kailash Kumari. His elder brother Surinder is a former international cricketer, younger brother Rajinder a former first-class cricketer, and he has two sisters, Kamala and Dolly. He did his schooling at MB High School Mandir Marg Delhi and graduated from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University.

Reader's Guide

Mohinder made his debut against Australia at Chennai in December 1969 as a quick-bowling all-rounder. At his peak he was a top-order batsman who mainly played at No. 3 for India. He played 69 Tests scoring 4,378 runs at an average of 42.50, with 11 hundreds and 24 fifties, and took 32 wickets at 55.68. In 85 ODIs, he scored 1,924 runs at an average of 30.53 with a highest score of 102 n.o., and took 46 wickets at 42.84. He was the vice-captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning team and was Man of the Match in both the semi-final and final. In the semi-final against England, he took the wickets of David Gower and Mike Gatting, conceding 27 runs in 12 overs, and scored 46 runs. In the final against West Indies, he scored 26 runs off 80 balls and took 3 wickets for 12 runs in 7 overs, being the most economical bowler. He also held the World Cup aloft with captain Kapil Dev.

Did You Know?

• He is the son of Lala Amarnath, India's first post-independence captain.
• He made his first Test century at the WACA in Perth against Jeff Thomson.
• Imran Khan and Sunil Gavaskar have called him the best batsman in the world in their books.