Cricketers fail to turn up for last respects

Onkar Singh in Delhi

Cricket's saga of shame continued on Saturday as not even a single cricketer worth his name turned up at the residence of Lala Amarnath even till the evening of his death.

The legend of Indian cricket died early Saturday morning at his residence.

Media persons who turned up in full strength wondered what kept the leading cricket players from coming and paying their last respects to the departed soul.

When Mohinder Amarnath finally arrived from Bombay by the afternoon flight, scribes could not resist the temptation of asking the awkward question even at the risk of being rebuffed.

"No, I do not expect people to come in and pay their respects to my father. I leave it up to the individual cricket players to decide. We would like this to be a private family affair. We are obliged that the media presence has more than made up for those who failed to turn up," said Mohinder.

Paying homage to his legendary father, Mohinder admitted that whatever he and his brother Surinder have achieved in the world of cricket is because of their father Lalaji.

"Whatever I am today is because of him. He was a strict man and whenever any one of us played bad cricket we were sure to be scolded. He was a source of strength to me, particularly when I was not selected for the Indian side.

"When he got the C K Nayyudu trophy he felt elated. He would often tell us how he was inspired by C K. He became a cricket player on his own. He would recount the days when he played cricket with other great players like Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Hazare and others. He would talk about cricket whenever he got a chance to do so. He would talk about Don Bradman and Larwood and would tell us endless number of stories about them," said Mohinder.

When the Indian team won the World Cup in 1983, Mohinder said, his father's joy knew no bounds."When I came back after the world Cup win, he told me that he was happy for me and other members of the Indian team. 'But this is only the beginning,' he said, adding 'I should try and reach greater heights.' I could not emulate him, but certainly I tried my best to play the game the way he had taught us to play.

"I was superstitious like him and carried red handkerchief in my back pocket. He was very attached to all of us. The last time I met him was two days ago when I left for Bombay. He had not been eating for the last six-seven days. He had become very weak.

"When I told him that I was going to Bombay, he started crying. He knew that I was soon going to Morocco. He did not want me to go. I did not know that I was saying goodbye to him for the last time," confessed Mohinder.

How good a father was he?

"He was not only a great cricket player but also a good father," said Mohinder. "He took care of his children, grand children and great grand children. He was a big name in Indian cricket when we started learning cricket under his watchful eyes. He made sure that we learnt cricket the hard way. He wanted us to give more than one hundred per cent. Nothing came to us easily. We had to strive hard to achieve our goals in cricket."

Mail Cricket Editor