1983 World Cup Performance
Mohinder Amarnath is best known for his legendary performance in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He was awarded "Man of the Match" in the finals and semi-finals, playing a star role in leading India to their first ever One Day International title and first World Cup win. As a result of his splendid performance in the World Cup, he was awarded the "Man of the series" award as well.
In the semi-finals against England his accurate seam bowling fetched him the top-order wickets of David Gower and Mike Gatting. He gave away only 27 runs in his 12 overs, for an average of a miserly 2.25 an over, the lowest among all Indian bowlers. Returning to bat, he scored 46 runs to give India a solid foundation. He was named the Man of the Match.
In the finals, India batted first against the West Indies which arguably boasted the world's best bowling attack comprising Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner. India did not fare well, with the entire team being dismissed for a paltry score of 183 in 54.4 overs, well short of the allotted 60 overs. Amarnath's calm and composed batting against West Indian fast bowling gave the Indian innings some much needed stability. He occupied the crease for the longest period (80 balls) and scored 26 runs. Though normally in limited over matches a long stint at the crease in not necessarily a good thing, given that India did not last the entire 60 overs Amarnath's innings gave the batsmen at the other end the opportunity to score. Krishnamachari Srikkanth top-scored with 38 runs, followed by Sandeep Patil (27 runs). After the poor batting performance India's chances were deemed almost non-existent. However, the Indian bowling exploited the weather and pitch conditions, conducive for swing bowling perfectly to bowl out the West Indies for just 140, thus winning the finals by 43 runs. Amarnath and Madan Lal were the joint highest wicket takers with 3 wickets each. As he had been in the semi-finals, Amarnath was once again the most economical bowler, conceding only 12 runs in his 7 overs for an average of 1.71 per over. Again, just like the semi-finals, Amarnath was declared the Man of the Match. Amarnath also had the distinction of bagging the match winning wicket. As the vice-captain of the team, he held the World Cup aloft in a famous photograph along with his captain and good friend, Indian cricketing legend Kapil Dev.
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