1983-Facts and Fiction

Fun facts about Mohinder 'Jimmy' Amarnath

A/N: Cause trust me, he's an awfully interesting person. Lovable, too.

1) His compulsive shot is the hook.

2) No matter how many times the hook had made him pay, he continued hooking (much like another compulsive puller we know). But unlike Rohit, it didn't get him caught in the deep. It got him injured (because cricket didn't have the high-class protective gear we have today).

It hit him on the head and knocked him unconscious (made him collapse on the stumps sometimes too), it hit him on the jaw so hard he could 'only eat ice cream for lunch', it knocked his teeth out, and spilt blood all over him so many times, but he continued hooking.

3) Coming to the teeth knocked out story: It was a Test against West Indies in 1983 at Bridgetown, and Marshall bowled short; Jimmy tried to hook, missed, and the result was messy. So he had to retire hurt from the field. The story goes that the first thing he did when he came around was washing the blood out of his shirt.

Next day, he walks out to bat. West Indies fast bowler Holding gives him a bouncer first ball. And he hooks. Story has it that he it resulted in a 6, which is not factually correct, but that he played the hook is a fact. Typical Jimmy, you could say.

4) Gavaskar once called him the best batsman in the world, and practically everyone who watched cricket then agrees that he was the bravest batsman of the era. [Brave may translate to stupidly heroic, in Tani's words]. In the absence of protective gears (helmets especially), the requirement of 'bravery' in cricket had a different definition then compared to now. [But still, putting his body on the line reminds me of Pujji taking the bodyline bouncers with only a slight wince.]

5) Jimmy Amarnath wasn't scared of any fast bowler of the world, but he was dead scared of his dad Lala Amarnath (which is adorable).

Senior Amarnath, a legend himself, who was the first person to score a century for India in Tests, and was India's first captain post-independence, brought up his three sons Surinder, Mohinder and Rajinder (I know, they rhyme) with military strictness; they weren't allowed to play any sport apart from cricket, and their lawn had pots arranged in field placement positions. Mohinder and Surinder both played for India while Rajinder only got as far as First class cricket.

All three, we can be sure, were in awe of their dad. In Surinder's words, 'I was always trying to get a good word from him.' In Jimmy's words, whenever he was asked where he gets his technique from, or where he gets his fearlessness from:

'Learnt it from dad.'

6) Jimmy Amarnath is also known as the king of comebacks, cause he was in and out of the team many, many times, and once even for a stretch of 5-6 years. Each time he came back though (Reminds you of a certain Ash?).

He made his debut in Tests as an opening fast bowler who batted down at No. 8; later, as his batting potential came to the fore and he was promoted to No. 3, his bowling fell away, pace reduced, and no one had actually counted on his bowling in the 1983 World Cup.

How often does a No. 3 contribute in bowling?

7) Which brings us to the nicest fact: he was Man of the Match in both the semi-final and the final of the 1983 WC, and both because of all-round performances.

During England's batting in the semi-final, he was the one who broke the third wicket partnership after which India dominated the innings, and his 46 in the second innings and partnership with Yashpal (which ended in a run out) built the foundation of the chase. "For my father," he said in the movie. I think, judging by how accurate 83 is in general, he said in real life, too. In the movie, his dad told him, "Aaj tune mujhe dass saal jawan kar diya." [My favourite scene].

In the final, he played a slow but priceless knock of 26 off 80 balls; his standing rooted to the crease gave Cheeka to score runs freely, and arguably it was their partnership that meant India at least reached 183 and did not fold within a 100. In the second innings, once again he broke a crucial partnership (in Kapil's words in the movie, 'aaj Lalaji ko aur dass saal jawan kar do').

And ended up Man of the Match in both.

8) 1982-83 was actually Jimmy's golden years; he also played a Test series vs West Indies (the same one in which Holding broke his teeth)—in West Indies, scoring 589 runs at an average of 66.4; India lost the series but he was Man of the Tournament.

Of course I love it when India wins, but when India loses, and someone persists in fighting lone, losing battles (*cough* Jaddu *cough*)...well, I'd love them forever. In Siri's words, we would be head over heels for Jimmy Amarnath had we been born at least 30 years back.

9) And now coming to how he is as a person, I'll just quote articles (or my dad, who watched them play, who actually was born 50 years ago like Siri and I'm wishing). He was calm and gentle, 'the kind of person you want to spend lots of time with' and 'always smiled in the face of adversity.' He was fearless, took on the most lethal fast bowlers of the world, but his body language was never fierce. He just quietly went about doing his job. [Sounds like Jinks, if you ask me].

10) He was part of the Indian team winning the 7-nation Benson and Hedges Cup in Australia, 1985 where India defeated Pakistan in the final; Ravi Shastri, the Man of the Tournament was awarded an Audi which he drove around the stadium with his teammates aboard. Jimmy's sitting on the bonnet in that iconic picture, sipping from a bottle of champagne, and earlier, he'd emptied an entire champagne bottle on Captain Gavaskar's head (:

11) Amarnath was Man of the Match in the final of the 4-nation Rothmans Sharjah Cup where India defeated Australia with a low-key but crucial all-round performance much like that in the '83 final. 

12) There has been plenty of politics against the Amarnath brothers, and in 1989, Jimmy called the Indian selectors 'a bunch of jokers.' Ironically, in late 2000s, he himself became a national selector, but I'm sure he wasn't a ridiculous selector like most have been in the history of Indian cricket.

20 years later, he said he didn't regret his statement. "I was hurt and then there came a boiling point," he said. I love him for not backtracking on his statement.

13) Carrying a red handkerchief to the field is something of an Amarnath tradition; Lala Amarnath did it, and both his sons also did.

Apparently, Jimmy gifted his fabled red hanky to the actor who played his role in '83', he was so impressed by his performance.

Which I take to mean that Saqib Saleem copied him perfectly, and since movie Jimmy was the sweetest person you can imagine, the perfect definition of a silent support system, the best vice-captain ever, I assume real life Jimmy was exactly the same, which is why I already love him so much.

14) Another fun fact not directly linked to him: Saqib Salim's father is a huge fan of Jimmy himself, so he said, while doing the movie, he was trying to impress his dad. Funnily, his character Jimmy was trying to do the same (impress HIS dad Lala Amarnath). Well, that certainly worked out well.

15) Another cute fact about one of the most iconic moment of Indian cricket history: Jimmy took the final wicket in the '83 final, the winning moment, and ran to pick up a stump, but he was running so fast he failed to do so and ran straight to the pavilion 🤭

16) His ODI debut was in the first match of any World Cup-India vs England at Lord's, 7th June 1975. Maybe it was an indicator of what was to come 8 years later

A/N: I'm 99% sure the facts I've stated are correct; if there's anything wrong, let me know. Also, if you have any new funfact, let me know too.