Birthday special: Mohinder Amarnath – Top 3 performances in international cricket
Mohinder Amarnath had a terrific career for India across formats. The right-hander had always fought through times and was able to come back stronger whenever he faced the axe. He ended up with 4378 runs in 69 Tests and 1924 runs in 85 ODIs from 1969 to 1989. As Amarnath celebrates his 73rd birthday on Saturday (September 24) here are the top three performances from him in international cricket.
102* vs NZ, Sharjah 1988
Amarnath’s best score in the ODI format came against New Zealand in 1988 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Coming in at 4 for 2, Amarnath stitched an excellent partnership of 158 with Navjot Singh Sidhu and got to the three-figure mark. The right-hander’s unbeaten 102 off 139 balls comprised of six fours and helped India to a competitive score on the board. India registered a 73-run victory and Amarnath picked up the player of the match award.
131 vs SL, Nagpur 1986
In the 2nd Test of the home series against Sri Lanka in 1986, Amarnath played a sensational knock in Nagpur. The visitors were bundled out for 204 in the first innings, and Amarnath alongside Dilip Vengsarkar stitched a 173-run partnership for the third wicket to take India to a huge score in reply. The all-rounder scored 131 off 301 balls with 14 fours in his innings and India won the Test by an innings and 106 runs in the end.
138 vs AUS, Sydney 1986
This was the best innings from Amarnath in Test cricket as he registered his highest score, against Australia in 1986 in Sydney. India batted first and reached a mammoth total of 600 for 4 in the first innings on the back of centuries from the top three batters, Sunil Gavaskar, Kris Srikkanth and Amarnath. Amarnath’s 138-run knock comprised of ten boundaries and he spent a lot of time at the crease. The Test ended in a draw with India almost managing a historic win in Australia.
