'He was really the legend of our times.'
'I couldn't have imagined that one day I'd be sharing a stage with him.'
Legendary all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath launched Fearless: A Memoir, in New Delhi on Thursday with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar as the special guest of honour.
Several of Amarnath's team-mates attended the book launch including Kapil Dev and Kirti Azad along with Virender Sehwag.
'I am just sharing my good moments, my experience in this book and I hope that it will be useful to you,' Amarnath said about the book, which he has co-written with younger brother Rajender Amarnath.
'I have seen it all, I have seen the high, I have seen the low and all that, but I believe differently, I live for the moment. I never carried my yesterday to the next day and so that just kept me going,' he said.
'So you always have good and bad days in life, so you have to stay positive and you have to back yourself.'
'Jimmy' Amarnath was the man of the match in India's historic triumph in the 1983 World Cup final against the West Indies. The all-rounder made 26 in a low-scoring game, while claiming three crucial wickets to help India win its first ever World Cup, at Lord's. He was also the man of the match in the semi-final against England.
On the EAM's presence at the book launch, Amarnath said, 'I have been following Dr Jaishankar and I like him, the way he is there for us and the things he is doing for the country and the kind of person he is and the personality he has and the way he thinks.
"We are proud of him and I am very thankful that he took time off to come, it is not easy for a busy man like him. I couldn't have picked anybody else better than Dr Jaishankar to come and launch my book.'
Dr Jaishankar believes Amarnath played a key role in the transformation of cricket in India courtesy of his pivotal role in the 1983 World Cup victory.
'I say this at the risk of embarrassing him, but he was really the legend of our times. I couldn't have imagined that one day I'd be sharing a stage with him,' said Jaishankar, a passionate cricket fan.
'He started his Test career in 1969. I was in school at that time. And in fact, the team that he played against, I happened to see the match in Delhi, which we happened to win at that time.
'But from 1969, when any of us thinking about Indian cricket, I think nobody has any doubt that 1983 was the inflection point. And he was not just the inflection point, but he was the man of the match of the inflection point.'
