Mohinder hits out in new book 'Fearless', next one set to be more explosive

For years this writer kept hearing about Mohinder Amarnathrsquos yettobereleasedautobiography So when news filtered through last week of his memoirs being finally published it was unsurprising yet surprising Mohinder Jimmy or Jumbo to friends is all set to release Fearless A Memoir written in collaboration with his brother Rajender Sunday midday got elder Mohinder and youngest Rajender nicknamed Johnny to talk about their new book published by Harper CollinsEdited excerpts from an interviewWhat took you so long to come up with your autobiographyMohinder Amarnath I always believe there is a time for things to happen I did try to work with various people but somehow it didnrsquot happen Irsquom lucky in a way that I got Rajinder to help me It has come at the right time the publisher also came at the right time Irsquom also like thankful to Harper Collins mdash Udayan Mitra and his team We worked together like a unit Itrsquos like a team game basically When everybody puts in an effort the end result is always goodMohinder Amarnarth playing his favourite hook shot during his unbeaten 116 against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 1985 Picmidday archivesDo you remember when Jimmy first asked you to be his collaborator for the book Did you feel like the chosen oneRajender Amarnath Well I had been telling him for almost two decades to do his book because I didnrsquot want the same thing to happen what happened to my dad We used to tell him to write his autobiography and he said okay but it just didnrsquot materialise So I wrote that book on Lala Amarnath published in 2004 When Jimmy asked me finally about twoandahalf to three years back whether I would be interested I didnrsquot sleep that night I was writing another book Jimmy saw me involved in that book and asked me ldquoWhat about my bookrdquo I said ldquoWhat about your bookrdquo He asked ldquoCan you do itrdquo And I said ldquoWhy notrdquo I had done my fatherrsquos book and my brotherrsquos would be another feather in my cap About feeling like the chosen one maybe you can use that word but I felt I had a duty I had a duty towards my father as a son and now I felt I had a duty as a brother to bring out what people dont know about JimmyAlso Read Sunny side of the streetsIn the highs and lows of your cricketing career did you share a lot of your feelings with Rajender which eventually helped in the bookMohinder Yeah we used to discuss things He was following my career He was living in Delhi I was playing for Delhi in those days and I was always there during the season So we used to share our emotions and being a cricketer too he understood He went through things in his firstclass career and that made it easier to understand So this book happened at the right time Irsquove always believed God always does what is best Rajender did dadrsquos book wonderfully Itrsquos a great biography of dad I think he knew how to go about it and what to write how to put things together Irsquom glad that you went through it and liked itMohinder Amarnath at Cricket Centre Wankhede Stadium when he was a national selector in August 2012 Picmidday archivesDid you have to do a lot of research Was there a scrapbook at home which you referred to oftenRajender To be honest I didnrsquot have to go to any library like I had to do with my dadrsquos book Jimmy had everything written down although it was a total mess if I can use that word Jimmy had been writing these notes over a period of time so that really came in handyThe only problem I faced was there were many repetitions He had written one note and there were quite a few things brought into the second note so only thing was it had to be streamlined Beyond streamlining I have done nothing Everything was done by Jimmy I simply put it in a form where people can enjoy it Itrsquos a book which brings out the emotion which Jimmy wanted to bring out Not many people know what Jimmy actually is Hes a quiet person doesnt speak muchAnd if this book had not been written people would not have known what Jimmy was As a child he was shorttemperedAlso Read Two decades later Mohinder Amarnath still doesnt regret calling selectors a bunch of jokersWhich aspects of your life did you find most challenging to open up onMohinder Irsquove never believed in speaking out unless Irsquom provoked Right through my career I could see people with very little talent representing India getting a lot of chances Whereas for me the rules were totally different Probably it was something to do with the Amarnath name or my face I believe that best thing was to perform and prove to people rather than talking big shouting screaming and saying things to othersI never used to speak out and bother about things to be very honest Right from my childhood I used to live for the day That was my mindset I would never dream of too many things in life I would just want to give my best on that dayBut itrsquos not all that easy to keep quiet do that when you are suffering deep insidehellipMohinder It hurts Of course it hurts You are human You would have tears in your eyes at times but you donrsquot show that to peopleEven on the field if you get hit you dont show your emotions although itrsquos not very comfortableWhen you smile I think people wonder whether you are affected Its not that it doesnt affect you but you dont want to show to the world that its affecting youDid your eyes well up when Jimmy opened up on certain aspectsRajender I had spoken to Jimmy a number of times during his playing days and as a brother you donrsquot realise your brotherrsquos outside world I was amazed I didnrsquot know so many things about Jimmy until he spoke to me about them for the book I think he discussed more with Papaji than with anybody else because he could get out of a situation from the advice which Papaji would give himIf he was going through a bad patch he talked to Papaji When he was on high he still talked to Papaji He was playing in India he talked to Papaji When he was abroad he talked to Papaji So for him the world revolved around PapajiThe 1988 Bangalore press conference where you called the selectors a bunch of jokers is so vividly described Did you have all that in your memory bankMohinder I remember 99 per cent of each and every thing in my life And of course I used to keep notes mdash not lengthy jottings in my diary but a few pointsHaving a chapter on Jimmy calling the selectors a bunch of jokers was a nobrainer for youRajender Well it is part of Jimmyrsquos life I think the book would have been incomplete without and I put the part of Papaji saying to PTI journalist Rao Jagannadha ldquowhy limit the label to selectors The entire BCCI is a pack of jokersrdquo I was there when this was saidPeople have to know about it You had to go back into history see the background why a player who was going through good form suddenly gets dropped for no rhyme or reason And then a statement comes from the BCC secretary that hes been dropped on cricketing grounds which was rather unfair Dad had taken the BCCI He split the Board into two He was banned in 1949 and later was allowed to play for India This chapter Bunch of jokers had to come inSome of your former teammates were selectors then Did you feel comfortable with thatMohinder It had nothing to do with my teammates They were selectors They were not my friends at that time They were doing a jobWhen I was playing against my brother I was playing against a player not my brother It was the mindset I had trained to us by our dadIt was not like I had any ill feeling about anybody I thought they then selectors didnt do the right thing I could see others were getting more opportunitiesThey were failing in a number of innings But for my case just one offseason one bad matchhellipIt was like a sword hanging over your neck all the time But it didnt bother me actually Once Irsquod step onto the field I would forget everythingIn the book you elaborate on fitness You also indicate that some of your teammates did not concentrate too much on fitnesshellipMohinder I think it fitness helps When you are young you can get away with a lot of things But after a certain age it helps if you are physically fit It makes you stronger In cricket there comes a time when fatigue sets in If you are physically strong then it fatigue wonrsquot come that quickly When you are a little bit tired your legs wonrsquot move well they get heavyBut some people are natural Sunil Gavaskar for example He was not a great fan of fitness but his fitness pattern was different which suited him He wouldnrsquot run 10 rounds Hersquod probably climb the Cricket Club of India steps 20 times which would make his legs a bit more stronger than the restEverybody has a different way of doing fitness but I think as a unit you have to do things togetherThe book has this bit about Jimmy training all alone at a Yorkshire football ground when he stayed behind to be with his family after the 1986 tour of England Were you inspired by things like thatRajender Papaji used to wake us up at around five in the morning Fitness became part of our daily routine We heard stories of his regimental training schedule from my mom and from the servants who were there when my dad was playing cricket Papa always professed that no matter whether you are playing or not training should become part and parcel of lifeYou have not written anything about your postplaying career mdash being a candidate for the coachrsquos job when Greg Chappell got it in 2005 being a selector when there was a controversy over Dhoni being retained as captain after the 201112 Test debacles Have you kept all that for another bookMohinder Yes I have laughs This is Rajendrarsquos suggestion The book is about the 20 years I represented the country my childhood my firstclass and other tours It would then been too big a book We wanted to include a lot more but we thought letrsquos keep something for the next oneAlso Read Sunny G turns funny G at book release functionDo you feel the sameRajender Absolutely The postplaying days is another part of Jimmy and that could probably give an insight into how BCCI functions The next one will be probably more explosive than this bookYou have been candid without being disrespectful to people It also provides a lot of inspiration to youngsters If youngsters read this they can get a lot of inspiration How much thought did you give to this aspectMohinder Itrsquos a simple I was inspired by my dad I wanted to emulate my dad because I heard so many stories from yesteryear cricketers like Chandu Borde and others I never watched him play international cricketI did watch him play some firstclass matches and some charity games I was too young but I could see that even in his 60s he was such a fantastic playerEven without practice for years he would just go and bat as if he was playing regular cricket I wanted to emulate him in some way or the other I knew I was not as talented as him as good a player as him But if I could do a little bit to pay respect to himhellip thats the way I looked at itRajender what do you think young cricketers can soak in through this bookRajender I think there are plenty of things they can take from this book especially if you are struggling I am talking about cricketers at the top level At the Test level the scope is very limited You have just got 14 players and the competition is limited to that And being at the top of a pyramid the only way you can come down is just lie downAnd then going up becomes very difficult for you So here the cricketers can learn how to get back on the road how to get out of that situation