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International cricket has seen a number of famous brothers representing their country in the gentleman’s game over the years. Australia have had the Chappell brothers - Ian, Greg and Trevor - and of course the Waugh twins - Steve and Mark. Brett Lee and Shane Lee also represented the Aussies, although the latter did not have a long career unlike his illustrious brother. The sibling tradition continued with the Hussey (Mike and David) and Marsh (Shaun and Mitchell) brothers.
Among other nations, Kamran and Umran Akmal have represented Pakistan with decent success, while Sam and Tom Curran are talented cricketers who are currently part of the England setup. In the '90s, Zimbabwe’s Flower brothers - Andy and Grant - were quite popular. Former leggie Paul Strang and his pace-bowling brother Bryan also represented the African nation.
Indian cricket too has had its share of popular brothers representing the country in various formats over the years. In this feature, we look at five famous brother duos who have played for India.
#1 Mohinder and Surinder Amarnath
Mohinder Amarnath’s name has been immortalized in Indian cricket history. He was the Player of the Match in the semi-finals and final during India's iconic 1983 World Cup triumph in England. There was more to Mohinder than his World Cup exploits, though. He made numerous comebacks to the Indian team after being dropped, sometimes unfairly.
In an international career that spanned two decades (1969-1989), Mohinder played 69 Tests and 85 ODIs for India, scoring over 6,300 runs. He also claimed 78 international wickets with his handy medium pace.
Surinder, meanwhile, made a fantastic start to his Test career, scoring a memorable 124 on debut against New Zealand in Auckland in 1976. He followed it up with two half-centuries in the home series against England. For some inexplicable reason, he was not given a long run in the Indian team and ended up playing only 10 Tests, scoring 550 runs.
#2 Hardik and Krunal Pandya
Hardik Pandya is part of the Indian team which is currently taking on South Africa in a five-match T20I series at home. Having impressed for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL, he made his Team India debut in 2016. The all-rounder has so far played 11 Tests, 63 ODIs and 56 T20Is for India, making some significant contributions with both the bat and ball.
Having been dropped from the Indian team due to poor form and fitness issues, Hardik made a comeback on the basis of a stellar IPL 2022 season, during which he led the Gujarat Titans (GT) to victory in their maiden season. If fit, Hardik is expected to be a crucial cog in Team India’s T20 World Cup 2022 plans.
Hardik’s elder brother Krunal has had a stop-start international career. Also an all-rounder, he has played five ODIs and 19 T20Is for India. He smashed the fastest fifty on ODI debut (26 balls) against England in Pune in March 2021. It was an emotional moment as a teary-eyed Krunal dedicated the innings to his late father.
Like Hardik, Krunal also impressed for MI in the IPL before being picked up by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for IPL 2022.
#3 Subhash and Baloo Gupte
Subhash Gupte is known as one of the finest leg-spinners to have played Test cricket for India. In a career that lasted from 1951 to 1961, he played 36 Tests, claiming 149 wickets at an average of 29.55. His best innings figures of nine for 102 came against West Indies in Kanpur in December 1958.
Subhash picked up 27 wickets in five Tests in the West Indies during the 1952-53 tour, which included four five-wicket hauls. He was near-unplayable against the Kiwis at home during the 1955-56 season, taking 34 wickets in five matches.
Baloo was also a leg-break bowler, but he did not have a successful international career. He played only three Tests and claimed three wickets at an average of 116.33. Baloo had a prolific domestic career, though, taking 417 wickets in 99 first-class matches, representing Mumbai, Bengal and Railways.
#4 Irfan and Yusuf Pathan
The Pathan brothers rose from poverty to represent India in a heart-warming rags-to-riches story. Irfan was the more successful of the two. In fact, following a brilliant start to his international career, he was touted as India’s next Kapil Dev. He made an impact with his pace and aggression on debut as a 19-year-old during the 2003-04 tour of Australia. He even claimed a famous hat-trick in the first over of the Karachi Test in 2006.
However, form and injury concerns saw his fortunes nosedive after that. He was the Player of the Match in the 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan and the 2008 Perth Test versus Australia. Irfan, however, ended his career with 100 wickets in 29 Tests and 173 scalps in 120 ODIs. He also scored a Test hundred. Not bad numbers at all, but everyone knew he had the potential to achieve a lot more.
For a brief period, Yusuf was a constant presence in India’s middle-order in white-ball cricket. He represented the country in 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is. A hard-hitting batter, Yusuf hammered two brilliant one-day hundreds - one against New Zealand and one against South Africa. He was a handy part-time off-spinner. Like Irfan, his talent too wasn’t exploited to the hilt.
#5 Madhav and Arvind Apte
Madhav Apte’s Test career is one of the biggest mysteries in Indian cricket. The Mumbai batter had an amazing tour of the West Indies in 1952-53, scoring 460 runs in five Tests at an average of 51.11. He scored an unbeaten 163 in the third Test at the Port of Spain.
For reasons unknown till this day, he did not play another Test for the country after the successful tour of the Caribbean. He ended his Test career with seven Tests in which he scored 542 runs at an average of 49.27.
Madhav’s younger brother Arvind was an attacking opening batter. He made his Test debut against England at Leeds in January 1959. Arvind had a poor match, scoring only eight and seven in two innings. He never played another match for India and finished his first-class career with 2782 runs from 58 matches.
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