test warrior Mohinder Amarnath Looking back on the 1978 tour in new memoir
New Delhi: In 1978, Indian cricketers received a tumultuous welcome when they arrived in Pakistan for the Test series. However, the players were surprised when a foreign-educated Pakistani cricketer called them “kafirs”. I don’t believe in Islam.
“The unnecessary comments from a Cambridge-educated cricketer came as a bit of a shock to us,” Mohinder Amarnath wrote in his newly published memoir Fearless, co-written with his brother Rajender. I’m writing. The name of the player who made this comment has not been made public.
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The incident took place after a match in Rawalpindi. “After the match, we took a bit of a leisurely ride on the bus. The cricketer, of course, said, ‘Bitao, bitao, kafilon ko jaldi bitao (unbelievers, get on quickly).’ ” Amarnath wrote, adding: Is there any good education if it cannot change negative attitudes towards others? ”
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In contrast, the cricketers received a jubilant welcome at the Karachi airport. Approximately 40,000 to 50,000 people gathered to welcome the visiting team. There were twice as many spectators, but many people left early because their flights were delayed.
“The distance from the airport to the hotel usually takes 20 minutes, but in our case it took 4. It took a long time. People occupied every inch of the sidewalk and road and refused to leave until they got a glimpse of the scenery. They shook hands with the Indian cricketers and they gave us a warm welcome.” The Man of Amarnath, who played 69 Tests, scored 4,378 runs, scored 11 tons and took 32 wickets. The match won by India in the 1983 ODI World Cup final.
However, some Pakistani players behaved differently. The memoir says, “…this artificial bubble burst sooner than expected and hostility arose from the expected quarter. Apparently some Pakistani players acted on the advice of their seniors and kept their distance. Looks like I’ll have to talk to them. I doubt that at least two of them, Javed Miandad and Sarfraz Nawaz, and to a lesser extent Mudassar Nazar, took this advice a little seriously. do not have. field.
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The cricketer, known as one of the best pace bowlers, recalled an incident in the Karachi Test involving Nawaz and Sunil Gavaskar, who had hits in both innings of the match (111 and 137).
“Every time he bowled a bouncer, Gavaskar allowed the ball to pass over his head. When the same bowler bowled the ball to him, the ball went to the fence. This irritated Sarfrath and he asked Gavaskar to Can be done I vented my frustration in some vulgar Punjabi that I couldn’t understand. After finishing, he came to me and asked, ‘Why does Sarfraz call me Pantcoat?’ I whispered, laughing at my ignorance. “He was talking about p…c…!” If you still don’t get it, remember the “Ben Stokes” meme on social media.
In the late 1970s, alcohol was banned in Pakistan, with some exceptions. The team’s coach, Fateh Singh Rao Gaekwad, hosted the players at his home in Bombay before the tour and asked the players to “take it easy” and stick to their “drinking” quotas.
“Many were surprised by the proposal as they knew there were restrictions on alcohol in Pakistan.The next morning, two liter crates of Johnnie Walker Red Label Whiskey arrived and were distributed to the players. ”, he writes in his memoirs.
