SRIKKANTH : Hello viewers, today we have a Very very special guest with us…none other than the  great “come back man” .We all know it is ‘Jimmy Amaranth.”  I don’t think any other Indian cricketer has made so many come backs to international cricket, as our friend Mohinder Amarnath.

SRIKKANTH ;  Mohinder, tell me how do you have so much of mental energy to come back so many times.

JIMMY AMARNATH: The thing was there, I always wanted to prove people wrong; that I was good enough to be in the team. The only way you can do that is to keep trying, and don’t give up, so I just I kept trying!

SRIKKANTH: And at no point of time, did you ever give up; let’s start from your debut days; you made your debut in 1969-70 against Australia. in Madras. You won’t believe, I was a 10 year-old boy watching that match.  I still remember two flying balls you bowled to Ian Chappel and Keith Stockpole. Both of them were bowled!! Unfortunately, in good old days there was no television; I have seen the bails flying off: You started off as a quick bowler, what happened to you after that?

JIMMY AMARNATH: I was still doing well in 1st class cricket  I was supposed to go to England with the team. There was some problem over there. Farouk Engineer was not available for the entire trip. They took 3 wicket keepers to England in place of an extra seamer!!

SRIKKANTH: That was in 1971

JIMMY AMARNATH: Yeah, I missed out on the tour. I kept trying. I was scoring runs and getting wickets in first class cricket. I just wasn’t getting into the team for some reason or the other.

SRIKKANTH: A medium pacer getting 2 wickets in India is an excellent debut in my opinion! If I remember right, I think you also scored 16 runs! You could have developed into a good all-rounder in 1969 itself. What happened? The selectors did not…

JIMMY AMARNATH: No, I played as an all-rounder. But I batted at No.9! The last game was against the Australians. I got about 60 odd runs. That’s how I got selected for the last test match. I don’t know … for some reason or the other, the Amarnath name was very popular(with the selectors!)

SRIKKANTH: I remember, the tour of Australia in 1977 was a good tour for you! I think you played quite well!

JIMMY AMARNATH: I always played well abroad! (laughs)

 

SRIKKANTH : You must be havingg good fond memories of 1977-78 tour of Australia?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Yes, it was a tough tour… the first time I was facing Thomson. He was the quickest bowler in the world! It was a very well planned tour.. the Packer series was also on! They wanted to carry on with traditional cricket. So we got a lot of attention! Lot of media attention was given to the Indian team during that time! It was good thing those days (that) one day cricket was not in fashion! So we had enough time to stay in one place, relax and play good cricket. We played very good cricket in that tour!

SRIKKANTH: India lost 3-2 in that series! It was very well fought series! Bobby Simpson at the age of 40 came and scored a double hundred!

JIMMY AMARNATH: He got a big hundred against us! He kept on scoring runs against us! Again our strength was spin and not pace! Kapil should have gone on that tour, but he was not…! In those days, it was thought that spinners were good enough to win matches, not fast bowlers or medium fast bowlers!

SRIKKANTH: Tradition continues even today! Don’t you think it’s wrong to depend so much on spin?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Yes, definitely. If you have to do well at the international level it has to be pace, not spin. Without pace, you can’t do well. We have to change the nature of wickets. The mental attitude and thinking also has to change ! If we have to be world champions, and be very successful at the international level, it is only fast bowling which will help us.

SRIKKANTH: Ok Jimmy , I want to know something! You were playing till 1978-79 but suddenly you were lost somewhere…. till 82-83, I remember, when we all made a come back in 82-83 against Pakistan. What happened during those three years.

JIMMY AMARNATH: Again, I can’t really figure out, honesly! I was doing as well as well as anybody else! I was not getting an opportunity! It was frustrating at times but I never showed my emotion to anybody! I just kept trying! I know that I was good enough and how good a player I was! When I looked at other players – those who were playing for India, I knew the time would come, in a year or two, when I would again be playing for the country!

SRIKKANTH : 82-83 tour of Pakistan – do you think it was a real turning point your life! I thought it was another big tour you had!

JIMMY AMARNATH : Definitely! I knew that was my last chance! I was 32 year’s old at that time. And in Indian cricket, once you cross 30, they call you a senior, or a veteran … all sorts of names (they give you!!). But as a batsman I think you mature between the age of 25 and 30, that’s the peak time for a batsman. But I have lost lot of time during those periods. Here I knew I have to give more than 100%, I had to click, I had to perform to stay in the team. And with God’s grace, I clicked at the right time.

SRIKKANTH: That time Imran Khan was in full cry. He tore us apart. How was it playing Imran Khan in Pakistan?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Thanks to my dad, honestly…because he guided me on that particular tour. He told me how to tackle the quick, hostile bowling, and the big in-swingers of Imran Khan. He helped me a lot. Whenever I used to get to speak to him, I used to take his advice. From his experience he used to tell me how (to play such bowling). He had tremendous knowledge about the game. He read the game very well. At that time he was still very young…in 1982. He helped me a lot. Once you get runs in the first 2 games, that gives you a lot of confidence.

SRIKKANTH: Your dad was a very aggressive person by nature, but you are very mild. How is it that you did not take to his aggressive attitude?

JIMMY AMARNATH:  Mild? … May be when it comes to speaking I am mild… but I am very aggressive when I have to get things done. I show all my aggression on the field … I showed it in the way I played the game.

SRIKKANTH: Immediately after the Pakistan tour, when you went to West Indies in 1983, you showed the world that you are one of the best batsmen against fast bowling. You must be having terrific memories of 1983 tour of West Indies.

JIMMY AMARNATH: Yeah, West Indies… Pakistan was tough. West Indies was even tougher. Those days, people used to say if you performed well against West Indies, you are a good player. I had been to West Indies earlier, I have played Micheal Holding and Andy Roberts in the ’76 series…, and knew the wickets were quicker than what they were in Pakistan. The bowlers were even quicker, not one -four of them - were there (coming) at the batsmen all the time. I planned my innings. Certain strokes I had to play and certain strokes I didn’t, and it clicked.

SRIKKANTH:  I wouldn’t say you were a compulsive hooker… but hook was your favorite shot in that series. Even when they had players in the deep fine leg, you still managed to hook. There was a time when you were hit on your face… you went to the hospital, but you came back and batted again to score 80 odd runs!! You tell us something about that.

JIMMY AMARNATH: Against fast bowling it’s crucial to play your strokes. You can’t just stick around unless you are someone like Sunil GavaSrikkanthar… you must have the right technique to cope with those short deliveries. Here I thought the best thing would be to go for the shots. Hook was my favorite stroke, it got me lot of runs… I did get out a number of times (to that shot)….Even when they had two guys (in the deep fine leg area), I was very confident. I was scoring runs, and that gave me a lot of confidence.

When I got hit on my face, I just took it as part of the game. When you get hit, you shouldn’t really bother or be concerned about playing your strokes. Because I remember after getting hit, the first ball any bowler would bowl (to you) is a bouncer, to make the batsmen uncomfortable…. and Marshall did bowl a bouncer. I tried to hook but I missed (it) and it went past my nose. I might have got knocked on my face once again!! But the next delivery again I knew would be a bouncer. I missed one (earlier) stroke but this time I was more prepared and I meddled that one. After that it was different story altogether!!

SRIKKANTH: After the ’83 tour, you had a very good time till world-cup 1983. You seemed to have the knack of getting crucial wickets and your bowling during the world-cup…. Your comments on that.

JIMMY AMARNATH: The conditions suited all of us, especially the seam bowlers. And we all clicked at the right time. Especially that Dujon’s wicket. People aSrikkanth how I got his wicket. …. He just obliged me as a friend!!!! It was not a delivery to get him out but he dragged it on to his wicket!!! The tension was not only on us, it was on the West Indians (too) also at the same time.

SRIKKANTH: Now, during the world-cup, you were the vice captain. You played obviously a major role, though I have been a part of it. As a vice captain, with captaincy with Kapil, how was it?

JIMMY AMARNATH: It was very comfortable, the rapport we had was good. The cricket those days was totally different. We never planned in great detail. Of course we had played with West Indians before the world-cup and we knew their strength and weaknesses. That was the only team people were scarred of.  As a matter of fact, we were not!! Because we had beaten them in (the earlier) one international. We knew that under pressure they normally crumble. So it went off very well. There were a lot of senior guys in the team. They were always there to give advice to Kapil. I think he was a lucky captain that he had so many senior players with him during the world-cup.

SRIKKANTH : After the world-cup, it was unfortunate that out of six innings, you got five “zeros”. What really happened? It is surprising a guy like Mohinder who just six months before was a king of world-cup, not only Indian cricket, suddenly stopped scoring…. What happened?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Nothing really. We were starting a fresh series after the world-cup… we had a gap of about 3 months and think when we started the fresh series, the most important thing is to play the first game well. Those days playing against the Windies was a lot of pressure on batsman. I failed in the first test match in Kanpur. The pressure was on, and I was not really 100% fit when I came to play the test match in Delhi. I did tell the selectors before the start of the game that I was not completely fit to play the game but they did not listen to me; it was all prying in my mind. They thought I didn’t do the well in the first test so I wanted to avoid the game!! But that was not the case. Nothing really went right for me in that series. At times, I just got out to stray deliveries.
SRIKKANTH: It was just a passing phase, then?
JIMMY AMARNATH: Not a passing phase, may be I picked up some faults. During those free periods, I didn’t play any cricket. So may be…. That (probably) was one of the reasons.
SRIKKANTH: After that many cricketers would have probably given up. Did you ever think that you would still make a come back after those failures.
JIMMY AMARNATH: Yes, sure. I knew I was just going through a wrong phase in my life. I used to analyze my batting a lot in the nets. I worked on my batting and did some talking with my father and shared all failures and achievements with him. We worked together on my batting and then from open stance, I went on side-on stance, and then it was fine.
SRIKKANTH: So you think your father played a major role in molding you a great cricketer.
JIMMY AMARNATH: Yes! Absolutely! I think when it comes to cricket– whatever I have achieved – it’s all due to him.

SRIKKANTH:  The great Lala Amarnath!

JIMMY AMARNATH: Absolutely!

SRIKKANTH: Now you made a comeback in 1984 in the tour of Pakistan. You were not even amongst the probables for the tour. I believe Sunil Gavaskar saw you playing the nets and said “My man is in”. Is it true?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Not actually in the nets! I was not amongst the probables and there was trial nets going on in Delhi. I was playing league cricket, I had come down to meet friends like Angshuman, etc. who were all there. So Sunny just asked whether I was carrying my kit. I said, “I am not even among probables, what is the point of me (carrying my kit)? Sunny said “why don’t you borrow it from somebody, and go and bat”. I just got a kit from Angshuman Gaekwad and went in and played for about 10 minutes and that’s it…. I got selected!!

SRIKKANTH. I think that is something great. In that case, you must thank Sunil Gavaskar for it. You must congratulate Sunil for his foresight in giving you the opportunity.

JIMMY AMARNATH: Yes, he was not only a great batsman. I think he knew who was good and who was not. And he knew who he wanted in the team. I think he wanted me to be there for the team to Pakistan, knowing that I had done well in Pakistan in the earlier series. And it also clicked, actually! When we reached Pakistan, he told me “Jimmy, it doesn’t matter whether you do well in the (preparatory) match, but you (will be) playing in the test match. That gave me a lot of confidence.

SRIKKANTH: I think you got a hundred in the first test match.
JIMMY AMARNATH: I got a 100 in the second, and many more there.

SRIKKANTH: After that, you had a fantastic time for about 3-4 years. You were almost ruling the roost. I think you were the most consistent player, till 1987, Dilip Vengsarkar probably took over from you.

JIMMY AMARNATH: I was always troubled with the thought on my mind that I was on trial. I just couldn’t relax because I knew that one failure would keep me out of the team. But again I took one game at a time, and I think that kept me going.

SRIKKANTH: Ok, then you had a good time, bad time and everything. And that was the time you said “the selectors were a bunch of jokers”, and I remember you made the comment from my room. What made you make that drastic comment?

JIMMY AMARNATH: I think at that time I had reached a boiling point. I had taken it so long for 20 years and when I was dropped after the Asia cup, I just couldn’t accept that.

SRIKKANTH: You were the man of the series of the Asia-cup, right?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Because I had won the game against Pakistan, the crucial game,  and then we won the Asia Cup, and was promised by the Indian captain that Vengsarkar and I would be there in the first test match and he discussed the batting (order) and the team with me when we were in transit in Calcutta. When I got the news (of my omission from the team) I was shattered actually.

SRIKKANTH:  As one of the most experienced cricketers, what do you think we should do for the development of the game in India?
JIMMY AMARNATH: I personally feel youngsters shouldn’t be made to play in one-day cricket because (from) one day-cricket you can’t judge a cricketer. If you want to groom a player, take him around on tours for experience and exposure and then play him. I think that will help. I think in one day cricket, you can’t really produce players for the future.

SRIKKANTH: What is your other suggestion? Do you think the wicket-conditions in India have to be totally different?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Yeah, definitely. In India, I personally feel that we should start preparing wicket at all levels, because cricket is being played throughout the country, right from the school level, college level, grass root level etc. We have to improve the standard of wickets. Only then we will be able to come up to the world level.

SRIKKANTH: What is it that you are doing now-a-days?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Nothing actually. I am taking my life easy because I am trying to spend time with my family, something I couldn’t do during my playing days. (I have) Taken an assignment in Morocco, trying to promote cricket in Morocco with Abdul Rehman Bukhatir and hopefully, Morocco will also become a centre for cricket.

SRIKKANTH: How is the place Morocco like? Do you have cricketing facilities there in Morocco?
JIMMY AMARNATH: No, cricket is not their game, they play soccer, but we try to educate people over there. We make them play and we will try to promote the game. Let’s hope for the future….!

SRIKKANTH: You are doing what Asif Iqbal is doing in Sharjah?

JIMMY AMARNATH: Yeah, I will be one of the main guys over there.

SRIKKANTH: That’s very good. That’s a good sign. That means one more international centre (for cricket) coming up in Morocco. That will be very interesting because Sharjah is desert, while Morocco is a North African country. And I don’t think anybody would have heard about cricket in North Africa.

JIMMY AMARNATH: It’s a beautiful place, and I am sure when you come, you will enjoy it.

SRIKKANTH: That’s good, Jimmy.

SRIKKANTH: One final word from you. What is it that you would like to tell the youngsters? I want you to give a good final message for the youngsters.

JIMMY AMARNATH: The key thing in success is you never give up! Success and failure are part and parcel of life, and you have to keep trying.

SRIKKANTH: That’s it viewers. I don’t think you can get a better advice from a man who has made the maximum number of come backs ever in life. Have this great attitude in life… never give up, never give up. Thank you very much, Jimmy for being in the show.