NEW DELHI: Mohinder Amarnath says there is “no way” he is going to pay the Rs 20,000 fine imposed on him by the disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
In an interview to the Arena sports magazine Mohinder Amarnath asks “why should I be fined when I have done nothing wrong?”
He said he did call the national selectors a “bunch of jokers” but insisted “I do not think I said anything wrong.”
Asked whether his statement regarding the selectors went against him. Mohinder ‘Amamath said “why should it? As far as 1 know, the Board never told the selectors not to consider me. It was their (selectors) decision entirely.”
The disciplinary committee, headed by the Board president, Mr. B.N. Dutta at a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday fined Mohinder Amarnath Rs 20,000 for calling the national selectors a “bunch of jokers” afire he was dropped for the first Test against New Zealand in Bangalore last year.
He said “just because some selectors do. Not like my face or name: they cannot cheat me of the money that was rightfully mine. It’s a crazy situation. You deprive a player ‘of Rs 90,000 and then expect him to pay up Rs 20,000 from his pocket, is it fair?”
When it was pointed out to him that he was lucky for getting away with only a fine ‘when he could also have been banned from the game for an indefinite period and that he had at least got hearing, Mohinder Amarnath replied “I was never given any hearing, Nothing was discussed 1 asked them to allow my lawyer to speak on my behalf at the meeting. They refused. I then walked out. There was no hearing at all.”
The second son of the illustrious Lala Amamath said he had expected to be selected for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies.
“Any cricketer worth his salt would like to play for the country, otherwise what is the use of playing? Doesn’t everyone nurse an ambition of representing his country,” he asked,
Mohinder Amarnath said “I think in any sport, the best players are supposed to represent the country. I had done enough cover the years to regard myself as one of the best cricketers in the country. I was in form. I was playing well. There was no justification in dropping me, I don’t understand why this happens only in my case, and others have got more chances than me. I am in the team as long as I am batting well. Once I fail I am dropped while others have been retained for a long time. Only this time I ‘was in form and yet was dropped.
Jimmy Amarnath said he would consider his plan of action after receiving the notice about the fine from the board. “I have only heard about it from press reports. But let me tell you I will not take anything like this lying down. I have suffered a lotion the past. I am in no mood to do so again.”
About the future, Mohinder Amarnath said “I eat, drink and breathe cricket. There is nothing else I can do. So the question of my retiring from the game does not arise will fight back as I have done in the past. A few whimsical people cannot keep me out for ever. God knows the truth. The public ‘knows the truth. I am not a Person to take up a confrontation with the authorities but, 1 will fight for my rights. I may be made to suffer because of that. But at least in the future the Board will not be able to cheat a player, 1 will see to that.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 24, 1989
