Jimmy Amarnath's Fearless, on a career of remarkable courage

Among the lasting images of 1983 is Kapil Dev on the Lord's balcony holding aloft the World Cup along with Mohinder Amarnath, Man of the Match in the semi-final and final.

- Amrit Mathur

Among the lasting images of 1983 is Kapil Dev on the Lord's balcony holding aloft the World Cup along with Mohinder Amarnath, Man of the Match in the semi-final and final. That was long back, and paaji today is a lifelong celebrity, folk hero and cricket legend. Jimmy Amarnath, however, faded from public memory—absent from social media, not on news channels or in the commentary box.

Now, 35 years since he last played for India, Jimmy has returned with Fearless, his memoir that covers his two decades in cricket. The book (written by Rajender, youngest of the three Amarnath brothers) describes the career of Jimmy and is a sharp commentary about Indian cricket before it became commercial and professional.

One thread that runs through Fearless is the huge influence of father Lala on Jimmy's life. Lalaji wanted his children to become cricketers; life was only cricket—all else secondary, unimportant.

Fearless is also about Jimmy's constant battle with pace bowling. It's an apt title because Jimmy stood for courage—he made runs abroad (in Pakistan and the West Indies) against bowlers who were scarily quick. If Jimmy was considered the best player of pace in the world, it wasn't without reason.