That Amit Mishra has featured in only 16 ODIs — with returns of 22 wickets at a more than decent clip of 28.09—is not exactly an indication of riches in India’s spin cupboard. But is rather a reflection of adverse circumstances that conspired against him.
When Anil Kumble retired, Mishra was reckoned the heir apparent, and in his first few Tests defended the hype. But thereafter, his career tapered off. This, allied with the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha consigned him to the fringes.
Not the most agile of fielders either, Mishra was dumped, despite taking eleven wickets in four matches against the West Indies (2011).
Mishra, meanwhile, recalibrated himself as a deceptive bowler in the Indian Premier League. He is the league’s second highest wicket-taker (95), apart from three hat-tricks to boot.
His Ranji stats, last season, was nothing special (21 wickets @ 31.80), not the least to warrant a comeback. Then, valuable as the tribe of leg-spinners is, Mishra couldn’t be ignored for long. He returned for the Zimbabwe series, and made an instant impact, snaring three wickets for 43 runs.
Though it came against a side struggling its way through the ladder, and batsmen unacquainted with quality spin bowling, Mishra’s performance can’t be undervalued. From the hapless bowler who toiled away to 38 wicketless overs in his last Test, in Oval two years ago, he seems to have regained the fizz that had marked his initial burst in international cricket. Like quality spinners, he lulled batsmen into a false sense of security.
He judiciously deployed his variations, which fetched him the first wicket. He pursued a middle-stump line, making the ball zip away from the right-handed Vusi Sibanda, before he let one break back into him from outside off. A surprised Sibanda was nailed in front.
The googly was in focus again, as it accounted for Hamilton Masakadza and Sikandar Raza too. The variation wasn’t by any means magical, but just that it was cleverly disguised, with little noticeable change in action, and was used sparingly. Previously, though, he had a tendency to overuse his googly.
Likewise, he wasn’t reluctant to flight the ball, a leg-spinner’s chief weaponry. “When you flight the ball, you might go for runs. But at the same time, you’ll get wickets as well. When he (Mishra) is in rhythm, he usually flights the ball well. The issue previously was he used to give up too easily. A batsman hits him for a couple of boundaries, and he soon began to bowl flatter. That negated his threat,” opined former left-arm-spinner Maninder Singh,
Given that he can bowl similarly against better teams, Mishra’s stakes would skyrocket, and he could push for a more permanent tenure. “Presently, it’s not easy, with Ashwin, Ojha and Jadeja, all bowling well. But if he can consistently bowl well, he can push for a spot. It’s good for Indian cricket to have depth in the spin-bowling department,” he said.
Moreover, like Ashwin and Jadeja, he can value-add with the bat, as was proved in his entertaining 84 against England in Oval. He was also Haryana’s third-highest run-gatherer last year, and mopped off a double hundred against Karnataka. But the key to cement his spot, he knows, is wickets and more wickets.