Lala Amarnath Bharadwaj (11 September 1911 - 5 August 2000) was an Indian cricketer. He scored a century on test debut and became the first player to score a century for the

India national cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a List of International Cricket Cou ...

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

. He was independent India's first cricket captain and captained India in their first Test series win against Pakistan in 1952. He played only three Test Matches before World War 2 (India played no official Test matches during the war). During this time he amassed around 10,000 runs with 30 hundreds in first class cricket which included teams from Australia and England. After the war he played another 21 Test Matches for India. He later became the chairman of the Senior Selection Committee,

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...

and was also a commentator and expert. His proteges include Chandu Borde, M.L. Jaisimha, and

Jasu Patel Jasubhai Motibhai Patel (26 November 1924 – 12 December 1992) was an off-spinner who played Test cricket for India. Early days At the age of ten, he broke his arm falling from a tree. Because of this injury he had a jerky bowling action, whi ...

who played for India. His sons Surinder and

Mohinder Amarnath Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj (born 24 September 1950) is an Indian former cricketer,current cricket analyst and actor. He is the son of Lala Amarnath, (the first post-independence captain of India .) and Kailash Kumari. His brother Surinder Ama ...

also became Test players for India. His grandson Digvijay is also a current first class player. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

awarded him the civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1991.

Early life

Amarnath was born in an impoverished

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

family of Kapurthala, Punjab. Recognizing his talent in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

cricketing household adopted Amarnath. He played his debut match against England in 1933 on the

Bombay Gymkhana The Bombay Gymkhana, established in 1875, is one of the premiere gentlemen clubs in the city of Mumbai, India. Bombay Gymkhana Rugby Club (rugby union) are tenants. It is located in the Fort area of South Mumbai area and was originally built a ...

grounds in

South Bombay South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

. Amarnath also played for the Hindus in the

Bombay Quadrangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

. Aside from being a batsman, Lala Amarnath was also a bowler, the only one to dismiss

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

hit wicket Hit wicket is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is governed by Law 35 of the Laws of Cricket. The striker is out "hit wicket" if, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in pla ...

Test career

In 1933's England's tour of India, Lala Amarnath was leading run scorer. In the series he created history by scoring first ever Test 100 by India cricket batter at Bombay. Amarnath was controversially sent back from the 1936 tour of England by the captain, the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, for "indiscipline". Amarnath and others allege it was due to politics. Vizzy, the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, was named the captain for

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

for the 1936 tour of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, a post that he secured after lobbying and manipulation. Some of the senior players in the squad, including Lala Amarnath,

C. K. Nayudu Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967), also known as CK, was the first captain of the Indian cricket team in Test matches. He played first-class cricket regularly until 1958, and returned for one last time in ...

and

Vijay Merchant Vijay Singh Madhavji Merchant , real name Vijay Madhav Thackersey (12 October 1911 – 27 October 1987) was an Indian cricketer. A right-hand batter and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, Merchant played first-class cricket for Bombay c ...

, were critical of Vizzy's playing abilities and captaincy, and the team was split between those who supported and criticised the captain. During India's match against Minor Counties at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

Lala Amarnath had been nursing a back injury during the game. Vizzy had Amarnath pad up, but did not put him in to bat as a succession of other batsmen were sent in ahead of him, which prevented Amarnath from resting his injury. Amarnath was finally put in to bat at the end of the day. Visibly angry after returning to the dressing room, he threw his kit into his bag and muttered in Punjabi, "''I know what is transpiring''". Vizzy took this as an affront, and conspired with team manager Major Jack Brittain-Jones to have Lala Amarnath sent back from the tour without playing the first test match. It is also alleged that in the first test against the

, Vizzy offered

Mushtaq Ali Syed Mushtaq Ali (; 17 December 1914 – 18 June 2005) was an Indian cricketer, a right-handed opening batsman who holds the distinction of scoring the first overseas Test century by an Indian player when he scored 112 against England at Old Tr ...

a gold watch to run out

Captain and manager

Lala Amarnath was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Indian team that toured Australia in 1947-1948. When the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

took place in August 1947, Amarnath and his family had to flee the city to escape a Muslim mob. He lived in

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

of Punjab till 1957, when he moved to the capital,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. Lala Amarnath had received his education at

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. Amarnath is widely respected for reaching out to bridge the divide between players and fans of India and Pakistan, caused by political tensions between the two countries. Under his leadership, India won its first-ever Test against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1952, and went on to win the series 2–1. Amarnath also managed the team when it toured Pakistan in 1954-55.

Family and legacy

His sons Mohinder and Surinder also played cricket for India and another son Rajinder played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

while his grandson Digvijay is also a first class player. Throughout his twilight years, Amarnath was considered a living legend of Indian cricket. Mohinder played the role of his father in the 2021 sports drama '' 83'', while Mohinder himself was portrayed by

Saqib Saleem Saqib Saleem Qureshi (; born 8 April 1988) is an Indian film actor and model who works in the Hindi film industry. He worked as a model before beginning his film career. After moving to Mumbai, Saqib appeared in several advertisements. While do ...

. Both of them had previously shared screen space in the 2016 action comedy ''

Dishoom ''Dishoom'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language buddy cop action comedy film directed by Rohit Dhawan and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. It stars John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Akshaye Khanna and Saqib Saleem and feature ...

''.

References

External links

*
Obituary
on TheGuardian {{DEFAULTSORT:Amarnath, Lala 1911 births 2000 deaths India Test cricketers India Test cricket captains Cricketers who made a century on Test debut People from Kapurthala Cricketers from Patiala Aligarh Muslim University alumni Hindus cricketers Southern Punjab cricketers Patiala cricketers Uttar Pradesh cricketers Gujarat cricketers Rajasthan cricketers Railways cricketers Indian cricketers North Zone cricketers The Rest cricketers Indian Starlets cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in sports Indian cricket administrators Indian cricket coaches Punjabi people Amarnath family