When we
talk about any incident we only talk and
take the preent situation into context We hardly make an effort to go beyond
that and go to the roots to find out the real cause and happening of the same
Whenever we
talk about the World Cup 1983 we ONLY
talk about Kapil Dev winning the Cup as a Captain and then the other fact of
Kapil running that 30 yards to catch that one of Viv Richard of Madanlal and so
on and so forth But have we ever made an attempt to know what REALLY was the reason first for India to make it that far to make
it to the finals of the World Cup 1983 and then again for him and India to win
the World Cup cricket in 1983
Incident :: The Amarnath Brothers bag BLOBS in
both the innings of the match and that SLAP
The two
brothers first made it to the National School cricket team of India in 1967 and
who will ever forget that innings of Surindr Amarnath who hit that two out of the ground SIX of last two deliveries to pull a
sensational win for India at Lords It was for the first time that the Indian tricolour was hoisted at Lords after
that win
Thereafter
the Brother again were in the limelight in 1970 to be exact First they made it
to the Indian team undr pataudi Though Mohinder made his baptism the elder colt of
Lala Amarnath was warming the bench in the reserves
Thereafter the Ranji Trophy quarters
against Maharashtra when Maharashtra under Chandu Borde scored 606 in the first the brothers duo along with M P Pandove hit centuries and lost the
game by two runs In reply to Maharashtra 606 Punjab had scored 604
It was at
that time and moment that many in the cricketing circle at Delhi advised Lala Amarnath to shift the brothers to
Delhi for higher education as well as for the higher echelon of cricket Delhi
then had a competition the HOT WEATHER SUMMER CRICKET TOURNEY which was played from
6.00AM in the morning to about 12.00PM at afternoon and the HOT-SULTRY climate
and it’s grind of cricket would tune the brothers mentally and physically to
upscale their game
Lala
Amarnath took the decision to shift the brothers duo at Delhi and then
somewhere in the heat of the Delhi in 1971 the two brothers were registered
with one of the club of Delhi to play in the tournament It was that the duo
were first stepping into the very hot climate of Delhi to play their first
match
After the
first innings fielding in a game against Sonnet the brothers were send to bat
the scorching heat of Delhi had played by then in their body The two were out
for BLOB Now after the game got over
it was Mohinder who knew what would be the question asked by lalaji and he said to his elder brother
that he was going to a teacher who taught them English to learn English as the
exam was near O- said the elder one and he came to his home When interrogated
about the scores the answer that came from the elder colt was a BLOB and there was ONE slap tight and very hard on the face of Surinder who fell down
thud on the floor Is this what I have
taught to bat. Where is the other one asked Lala and the reply was HE HAS
GONE TO STUDY AND LEARN ENGLISH OH!!!!! English said Lala. The BUGGAR does
not even knows to hold a pencil properly and he has gone to study English GREAT said Lala
A NAUGHTY Mohinder knew exactly when
Lalaji would take his dinner and go to the bed He reached his home deliberately
after Lalaji went off to bed After he had his dinner he just asked Surinder- Badpaji Ki Hoenda Mannu Batta and
Surinder showed his RED HOT cheek to
the midget The colour of the cheek was RED
and it was MUCH hot and red than the
cricket ball
Next day it
was again that before going to the match they had a cricket pep talk with
Lalaji and the ORDER was SCORE and SHARPEN
your batting in this red hot Delhi summer The brothers fielded well and
when it came to their batting the tale and the story was the game Badpaji got out
for a BLOB and so was Mohinder The story was same Mohinder on the pretext of
study and tuition went to the house of the teacher who would teach English to
them at the place where they were admitted for their stuideies This time he
made a clever move He did not turn up to the house on the pretext that he was
studying very hard to write the exam to score better marks in English
Ultimately
when the elder colt entered the house the question was same and the answer also
was same Once again a THUD on the
face of Surinder and there was a LOUD
scream- WHERE IS THE MIDGET The answer again was same He has gone to study English .There was an
order from Lalaji to his Home Minister- when that IDIOT comes me please ask him to talk to me I want to talk to him
However as said earlier Mohinder was NOT
to come to home that full night He on the pretext of studying and learning some
chapter thoroughly preferred to say at the house of his Teacher and he came
back only after writing the paper By that time Lalaji was into some other thing
and that chapter was closed for ever
The
Brothers from then on went all the way to play for India not only here but at
abroad. They were ther national crciketers then Everything was going fine lest
the Pakistan tour of 1978 had to scrub the Indians and slash them for many a
things Both the brothers were dropped from the indian squad. Mohinder came back
against the Kallicharran led Windies but Surinder was a man who was completely
forgotten
From the
year 1978 when Delhi won the Ranji Trophy to the year Surinder Amarnath scored
scored and scored and he kept on scoring It started from an innings of 138
against Karnataka in the ranji Finals in 1978 to the innings of an unbeaten 242
in the Irani Finals and then that 101 in the Finals against Karnataka where
delhi scored 706 for eight against 704 by Karnataka to win that Ranji finals, a
match which was played for seven days at a stretch without any break in between
It was Rajesh Peter and his unbeaten 68
and that innings by Rakesh Shukla whpo had scored an unbeaten 65 to steer Delhi
to that historic win not to forget Mohinder Amarnath who scored an 183 in the
finals
When in
1981 when Surinder Amarnath inspite of scoring an unbeaten 242 against the Rest Of India in the Irani Trophy was NOT picked for the Indian team to tour
Australia he really LOST his balance
He straight away went to his home to Lalaji and said him- INSTEAD OF MAKING US A CRICKETER YOU COULD HAVE MADE US A CLERK ATLEAST
WE WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN INSULTED THE WAY WE FACE THEM What is the use of
playing cricket and scoring an unbeaten 242 if I’m not selected to play for
india those who have scored 70 , 75 and
45 are there in the squad I have scored atleast 12 centuries in all the form of National cricket tourneys, since 1978 to 1981 and still I do not get the preference THERE
WAS ANOTHER SLAP THAT HE GOT FROM HIS FATHER THAT DAY
You want to be a CLERK is it I could have been
one but I did not . Donald Bradman calls me the FATHER of all the
Captains that he had seen and played against and refers me as OFFICER and you
want to be a CLERK is it .Anyway it
was in the year that Surinder Amarnath decided that HE WOULD NEVER TOUCH THE
BAT AGAIN He was FED UP with the Indian selectors and their approach as well as
their behaviour
Mohinder
Amarnath also was going through the same phase He ws dropped for the England
tour of 1981 His place went to Suru Nayak and Gulam parkar was taken to open
the innings with Gavaskar instead of Chetan Chauhan. That again ws a DIASASTER
for the Amarnath to bear Mohinder Amarnath in 1982 for all practical purpose
decided that he will NEVER play cricket for india again He spoke his HEART to
Badpaji and one fine night after the family had their dinner Mohinder put his
proposal to lala Amarnath saying that HE
IS ANNOUNCING HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE GAME .He just wanted to inform the
CEO of the Amarnath family about his WILL
and the decision.
Hearing to
this Lala Amarnath like a SPRING sprang to Mohinder to give him a TIGHT SLAP
buut sensing the situation Surinder jumped into the fray That slap fell onto
his cheek again The FURIOUS and INFURIATED Lalaji saw a BAT there at the corner
He picked it up and BANGED it on the FLOOR souting that- I’M
STILL NOT DEAD AND MY COLTS WILL NEVER LEAVE THE GAME LIKE A MOUSE OR A HEN The Amarnaths have been a FIGHTER and
this FIGHT will go on YOU
WILL NOT LEAVE THE SCENARIO UNTIL YOU SHOW THE WORLD WHAT REAL FIGHT IS ALL
ABOUT CRICKET
That bat
which lala hit the floor ricotiated from the floor to jump high and hit the
roof of the drawing room and it again fell back to the floor of the drawing
room to again bounce back to hit the roof once more and then when it banged the
floor on the rebound the bat broke into two pieces One of the PIECE hit the elder Amarnath THUD on the face after again
bouncing from the floor That was the STRENGTH by which Lalaji had hit the bat
on the ground That bat was of Rs 2500=00
or even more Mohinder had purchased it from England when he was there to play
the minor counties in 1981. But then the
bat had to face that heat and the moment
From tomorrow rising would be at 4.00AM for you
Mohinder said Lala By
5.00AM we will be at the Paharganj Stadium for practise It would be twenty
rounds at the paharganj Stadium for you everyday and 10,000 skipping for one
month .That was to put Mohinder and his entire body to shead those weights if
at all there was any
After one
month it was all bowling with perfection and accuracy to attach to it. Lalaji had observed that Mohinder would place
his legs the left one when he bowled to the position pointing it to the third
slip to place his body weight while
his follow through The placement of the
leg was wide Lalaji made it finer and made him to place his feet to the finer finer side of the position between
the off stump and the Ist slip That exactly made the balance of the body to enable him for a exact
follow through beside his shoulder exactly balancing the rotating arm while delivering the balls while bowling , that gave him a complete control of the ball
and the body for bowling exactly on the place where he would like to bowl the
outcutter or the deviation to the off stump from the mid stump Hours and hours
of hard work and working in the nets Mohinder had creased his bowling
Lalaji was a man who knew the English trade
like the fingers which knows all about how to tear the ROTI and scroll it to
dip it into the dal and finally how to place it in the mouth He had marshalled Mohinder all about
the outcutters but he had to make him perfect for the incutters He in the same
action and the same follow through made Mohinder to place his left feet just at
the direction of the leg stump while bowling his incutters Days and days of
practise and Mohinder was a SLOW PACER who could bowl the cutters very
effectively and at the right spot He gained a terrific control over his
deliveries while bowling Lalaji was exactly sure that Mohinder and his body
especially the part of the stomach was that he could turn it and roatate it
like the suppleness of the sanke He was asuured and he was very sure that
Mohinder was not carrying any extra weight on his body
Then came
the batting It was batting which he had to face the deliveries from thew 18
yard of pace, from the 15 yard of pace and again from the eight yard of pace
through a wet tennis ball The bat would be the wicket that he would have to
negotiate the balls when facing the deliveries off the tennis balls. That was
to perfect the middling of the balls/deliveries while he faced them in the nets
Once when
lalaji watched that Mohinder was middling the ball very accurately that lalji
changed his batting stance It was a chest which would face the bowler with the
bat a bit opened Mohinder was changed into a batsman who would bat with a CROUCHING STANCE That helped him to
immediately get away from the rising deliveries rather than ducking them and
also to immediately change from hitting the shots to the off from the on
He would
react very quickly to change his positioning his shots after the deliveries
that he faced changed its line and the direction This was something which
lalaji made Mohinder to practise hours and hours at the nets He made it such
that Mohinder was a bastman who could do anything with the bat to a delivery
which was bowled to him to play shots His shots had not only the power but it
also had the speed and the panache to bisect and place the balls while playing
the shots to the ground perfectly to roll on it or to hit it out of the ground
His reaction time also improved like anything He could see the ball/deliveries like a football He would very
perfectly and with precision hit the balls from the meat of his bat Accuracy-
THY NAME WAS MOHINDER
All these hours of hard work gave him the 550 plus runs
in Pakistan though India lost the series by 0-3, 598 runs in the west Indies
though India lost the series by 0-2 but it gave India the World Cup in 1983 Mohinder Amarnath with his cutters had
claimed 14 wickets after Roger Binny who had claimed the highest 18 wickets and
Madanlal who had claimed 17 Not only that Mohinder Amarnath got the MAN-OF-THE-MATCH award in the semis and
then in the finals of the tourney thus becoming the FIRST one in the world Cup cricket to win that honour of bagging
the MOM in the semis and in the finals of an single edition of a world Cup
Later in 1996 Aravinda De Silva became
the 2nd to emulate Mohinder’s feat
The World
Cup 1983 would NOT have been won by India if the MIDGET of the lala’s colt would
not have been playing and representing India He played It was because of that SUDDEN SLAP which the BADPAJI took them all and especially
that one when the bat got broken into
two That slap and those incident made Mohinder a changed cricketer If not that last slap on Surinder and the
bat broken that way Mohinder would have announced his retirement from cricket
in 1982 itself If that had happened well India would not have won that
World Cup cricket in 1983
We talk a
LOT about World Cup cricket and all about it lore spraying all the HYMS on
kapil Dev and his innings of 175 unbeaten against Zimbabwe No one denies
anything about that
‘’ HOWEVER THOSE SLAPS AND THE LAST SLAP ON
SURINDER WHICH CHANGED MOHINDER IS THE REAL TRUTH AND AN UNDISCLOSED SAGA WHICH
WENT A LONG WAY FOR INDIA TO WIN THAT WORLD CUP This is a REAL FACT and the
UNDISCOVERED truth ‘’
India would not have won the WC 1983 cricket
without Mohinder and Mohinder would not have been CHANGED cricketer at all but
fo those SLAP and especially the LAST one
Thanks to the Late Lala Amarnath for the same
Regards
Shyamal
Bhattacharjee
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