Mohinder Amarnath - best Indian player of fast bowling?

[Pratters]

Mohinder Amarnath has a stagerring average of above 50 in tests abroad and only 30 in tests in India.

Considering that fast bowling was at its peak in the era he played, does this make him the best Indian player of fast bowling? Dravid is one player who has undoubtedly shown he is the best player of fast bowling post 1990.

Amarnath missed almost the same number of games he played in.. thats besides the point. Gavaskar rates him the best Indian player of the fast bowling. Jimmy once took a shot on his face and was bleeding. Then he came back and hit some 80/90 runs in the Windies. Shastri vows by tha inning and regrets there is no footage of it.

How would you rate him ?

 

[SJS]

One of the most ill-treated (by the selectors) of the Indian cricketers, Mohinder played only 40% of the tests that India played during his career. He made more come backs than Mohammad Ali and always without a word in protest from this gentleman cricketer. Finally he lost his cool to the extent to famously call the selectors a bunch of jokers.

His performances are legion but what really stood out is the season of 1982 83 when in two AWAY series that India was whipped in by Pakistan (Sarfaraz and Imran) and West Indies(Roberts, Holding, Garner and Marshall). Mohinder stood alone betwen this imposing array of great fast bowlers to pile up 1182 runs in two series in one winter with successive scores of

109 n.o.
5 & 3
22 & 78
61 & 64
120
19 & 103 n.o......against Pakistan (India lost 3-0)

29 & 40
58 & 117
13
91 & 80
54 & 116........against West Indies(India lost 2-0)

Clive Lloyd and Imran Khan both proclaimed him the best player of fast bowling in the world.

He was awesome.

 

[Pratters]

Another stat which goes totally unnoticed - In the record 400 runs India chased vs the Windies, people remember the batting of Vishwanath and Gavaskar. Its forgotten that Amarnath batted for almost 7 and half hours for 80 runs blocking one end to make it possible for the runs to be made.. does overshadow the performance of Atherton against Donald to draw a match when you consider there were the windies bowlers bowling mostly short pitched balls..