The Indian cricket legend, who recently published his autobiography Fearless, feels it's the wickets and not the lack of talent that undid India in the series against New Zealand
Mohinder Amarnath Image: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images
If grit had a face, it could very well be Mohinder Amarnath’s.
hrough his nearly two-decade career, at a time when laws hadn’t capped the use of bouncers to two and helmets weren’t as fortified as now, Amarnath fought against the fiercest of bowlers. Jeff Thomson had pounded his ribcage, Richard Hadlee cracked his skull, Imran Khan knocked him unconscious and Malcolm Marshall broke his jaw, among others. But the all-rounder batted with an obstinate courage, hooking and pulling to the fence the very bowlers who had sent others scurrying for cover.
As in cricket, so in life—Amarnath hadn’t learnt to take a step back. Dropped for extended periods—once advised by a cricketer friend to “stop practice and enjoy life” since he wasn’t going to play again—he thumbed his nose at doubters and returned every single time. The all-rounder, son of India’s first Test centurion Lala Amarnath, was one of the key architects of India’s shock victory at the 1983 World Cup, being named the Player of the Match in both the semifinal and the final.
In his recent autobiography—aptly titled Fearless—written along with his younger brother Rajender, a former cricketer, commentator and author, Amarnath sheds light on his formative years under the watchful eyes of his father, his time on the international stage, and why, in 1988, he refused to back down from calling the selectors a 'bunch of jokers’. In Mumbai for the cover-reveal of the book, the Amarnath brothers sat down for a chat with Forbes India for an episode of From the Bookshelves. Edited excerpts:
Q. Why come out with an autobiography now, after 35 years of retirement?