There have been many instances in International cricket when brothers have represented their country, for example, Waugh twins (Mark and Steve), Chappell brothers – Ian, Greg and Trevor, Lee brothers – Brett and Shane, Hussey brothers – Mike and David, etc.
However, today we are going to talk about Indian brothers who have represented India in international cricket:
1. Mohinder Amarnath and Surinder Amarnath:
They both had a cricket background as their father Lala Amarnath was also a cricketer and he was the first Indian cricketer to score a century in test matches. Mohinder Amarnath was the hero of India’s 1983 ICC World Cup win as he won the Man of the Match award in the semi-final and the final match of the tournament. Mohinder Amarnath played 69 test matches and 85 ODIs in his career of almost two decades but his elder brother Surinder Amarnath had a short cricket career as he played only 10 test matches and 3 ODIs despite being termed as schoolboy prodigy and he made his debut in first class cricket when he was not even 15 yrs old.
The Amarnath family produced three 🇮🇳 cricketers.
Lala Amarnath, who was the first India player to score a Test century, also gave birth to the hero of their 1983 World Cup final win, Mohinder Amarnath. His other son, Surinder Amarnath, also played 10 Tests and three ODIs. pic.twitter.com/zcxkyzfHre
— ICC (@ICC) June 21, 2020
2. Subhash Gupte and Baloo Gupte:
Subhash Gupte who played for India from 1951 to 1961 was considered as one of the finest spinners and in the opinion of Sir Garry Sobers, Jim Laker and EAS Prasanna, Subhash Gupte was the best leg spinner that they have seen. Subhash played 36 test matches for the country in which he took 149 wickets but his brother Baloo played only 3 test matches for the country.
3. Madhav Apte and Arvind Apte:
These two brothers also represented India on the international level but neither of them was able to play for a long time. Madhav Apte’s test career had an abrupt ending as he had a very successful tour of West Indies but he was never selected in the Indian team after that. Madhav Apte played 7 test matches in his short career and his brother Arvind Apte played only 1 test match in his international career.
4. Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan:
Both Yusuf and Irfan were highly talented but unfortunately their potential was not used to the maximum. They both were a part of the Indian squad which won the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup and Irfan Pathan even won the Player of the Match award for his performance in that important match against Pakistan. Though Irfan Pathan was termed as the next Kapil Dev yet due to form and injuries, his career got shortened and he played only 29 test matches, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is.
On the other hand, Yusuf Pathan never got the chance to play in the longest format for India but he was an integral part of the limited overs format team for quite some time. Known for his power hitting style of batting, Yusuf played 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is for the country.
5. Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya:
These two are the only active cricketers in this list, both of them have debuted for India, while Hardik has performed so well that now he is leading India’s T20I team, Krunal Pandya got dropped from the Indian team after playing 5 ODIs and 19 T20Is and the chances of his comeback also seem bleak, at least in the present times. They both were a part of the IPL team Mumbai Indians at one point of time but now, Hardik Pandya is leading Gujarat Titans and Krunal Pandya is playing for Lucknow Super Giants and he led the team in the last IPL in KL Rahul’s absence as he was injured.
Do you know about any other pair of brothers who played cricket for the country? Share with us.