In the game of uncertainty, only a handful of players get chances to represent their nation, but few become fortunate and diligent enough to pass the legacy of representing their country. It needs equal effort from the son’s part to replicate and follow the footsteps of his father to represent the nation in cricket. In the following list, we are going to explore about few famous father-son duos of cricket.
1) Lala Amarnath & Mohinder Amarnath – Probably the most renowned father-son duo of International Cricket is this duo. Lala Amarnath was the first leader of the Indian team after independence and has played 24 test matches for India. But he left more and better impression in
Indian cricket as selector and coach. His son Mohinder Amarnath went on to become a legend in the history of Indian cricket as he played 69 tests and scored close to 4400 runs and close to 2000 runs in ODI cricket. He is also being remembered for his magnificent performances in the famous 1983 World Cup campaign especially for Semi-Final and final.
2) Sunil Gavaskar & Rohan Gavaskar – Sunil Gavaskar who is also known as the little master of Indian cricket was among the initial generations of Indian cricket and the superstar batsman took the batting standard to another level and in the process created several records. One of the best batsman of India was the very first batsman to reach the landmark of 10000 runs and 30 tons in test cricket. The son of the legend, Rohan Gavaskar was also immensely talented and followed the footsteps of his dad, but his International career never took off as he managed to play
only 11 ODI matches for India and score only a sole half-century. Though he has got terrific records in the domestic and 1st class cricket, he could not replicate that in the International level and hence got lost from the scene like a season wonders.
3) Chris Broad & Stuart Broad – Chris Broad was undoubtedly one of the most stylish English batsmen. With a terrific first-class record and a prolific scorer in county cricket, Broad made his test debut in 1984 and had been quite effective during his 5 years of International tenure.
In 25 tests and 34 ODIs, he had scored a total of 7 centuries and 17 half-centuries across the formats. Later he took up the role of the match official and has officiated many matches. His son Stuart Broad followed his footsteps of becoming a cricketer but unlike Chris, Stuart Broad chose to be a bowler. Stuart Broad is no unfamiliar name for the cricket fans as everyone knows how ferocious pacer he is and how he formed a deadly-duo with his partner in crime James Anderson. Currently, Stuart Broad has over 700 wickets in International and one of the best pacers the cricket world has ever witnessed. Particularly in test cricket, he can also be termed as an all-rounder as he has scored over 3200 runs along with grabbing a record 485 wickets.
4) Geoff Marsh & Shaun Marsh – Geoff Marsh made his debut for the Baggy Greens in the mid-80s and went on to become one of the greatest openers. The flamboyant opener scored 4357 in 115 innings in International cricket and has close to 2900 runs in his 50 matches test career.
During his prime form, he can be exemplified as the epitome of determination. He retired in 1994 and chose the role of the Australian coach in 1996. His both son, Shaun and Mitchell followed his footsteps and till now has been quite successful. Though neither of them managed to cement their place in the team, they have been quite good and have been in and out of the team quite frequently. Shaun Marsh, who is a top-order batsman and the elder of the two, has scored around 5000 runs in his International career whereas Mitchell who is an all-rounder has around 300 runs and has close to 100 wickets. Though neither of the brothers could manage to create as much impact as their
father did but still they have been quite successful by choosing their father’s footsteps.
5) Vijay Manjrekar & Sanjay Manjrekar – Sanjay Manjrekar is quite a familiar name for the cricket fans of today’s generation for his often appearances in the commentary box and also for passing controversial comments. But many aren’t aware of the fact that his father had also
represented India and had a pretty successful career. At the very young age of 21, he smashed a century against England in 1952. In 1961 he unleashed his best performance against England as he amassed a record 586 runs at an average of 83.71. He was expected to set a whole different in Indian batting history but with time his weight became a problem and he finally retired in 1965 but not before striking his 7th and the very last ton in his final test match. Sanjay Manjrekar also followed the footsteps and has been quite successful in his International stint as he represented India in over 100 matches across the formats. With his batting average comfortably over 30s his career can be termed as partly successful as it wasn’t a long-lasting one like his father.
6) Yograj Singh & Yuvraj Singh – Yograj Singh was the former fast bowler from Punjab. His cricket career was a very short one as the left-arm pacer managed to represent his country only once in tests and 6 times in ODIs. After that, he never managed to represent his country in either of the formats. His domestic career was also nothing substantial and his career might be termed as a “Failure”. But his son Yuvraj Singh went on to become one of the best players Indian Cricket has ever produced. Yuvraj Singh has declared his retirement in 2019 but his 19 years career in international cricket has seen many ups and downs with the major setback being “Cancer”. Unlike his father, Yuvraj was a true warrior and he kept fighting for his place every single time. He has scored around 12000 International runs and also has close to 150 International wickets.
7) Roger Binny & Stuart Binny – Roger Binny was one of the finest all-rounders of his generation who had a great impact on his team for his all-round skills. He was also one of the most integral members of the 1983 World campaign, where India ultimately prevailed and got crowned
as “World Champions” for the very first time. His son, Stuart Binny followed father’s footsteps and is an aspirant all-rounder who has represented his nation quite a few times till now. Unlike his father, Stuart failed to make much impact with his performances as his performances have been pretty ordinary till now. With age not in his, side it seems that it’s very hard for him to make a comeback in the national team. Stuart Binny is among those players who have got great domestic records but failed to replicate those performances for his national team.
