Amit Mishra: Leg spin tough for left-handers

Amit Mishra

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Amit Mishra, who gave a stellar performance against Faisalabad Warriors on Wednesday, has stated that he is able to bowl with equal efficiency to any kind of batsman. Mishra was used sparingly by his skipper Shikhar Dhawan in the match against Kandurata Maroons on Tuesday who are mostly a left-handed team. Mishra bowled four overs conceding 13 runs in the match against Pakistaini side Faisalabad. ESPNCricinfo reports.

“I have always believed that since a legspinner has more variations, it is tougher for a left-hander to play him,” Mishra told the CLT20 website. “I was waiting for a call to bowl another over, the team and the coaches were also thinking, ‘when is Amit going to bowl’. But sometimes, you don’t know what is going on in the captain’s mind and it’s best to leave some decisions to him, without thinking about it too much. Also, it was Shikhar’s first game as captain and these things happen.”

Pakistani side Faisalabad warriors have had a good start to their T20 campaign hitting 48 in the first six overs, but Mishra ended their firm run. The batsmen found it hard to cope with Mishra’s bowling.

“If any such thing like, ‘he can’t bowl to the left-handers’, comes to anyone’s mind, it becomes a challenge for me,” Mishra said. “So, when I bowled against Faisalabad Wolves, I certainly had it at the back of my mind that I want to prove that I can bowl equally well to every kind of batsman.”

The 30-year-old praised the form of his teams batsmen displayed in the first two matches. “The biggest plus that I see in our performance in this tournament so far is our batting. In the IPL our batting couldn’t click too often but now Shikhar is in such good form, Parthiv is in good nick and the following batsmen are also scoring runs. Our bowling and fielding have always been good, so having these runs on board is a huge boost for us.”

Mishra is one of the deadliest bowlers in this tournament and uses the flight and spin to his advantage. “There are times when the situation demands that I bowl to stop runs,” he said. “But even then, I ensure that it doesn’t affect my flight or spin. I have added variations in my arsenal so that before hitting me, the batsman thinks whether it is a googly, top-spin, flipper or slider. So, even when I am bowling to stop runs, I don’t want to do it with defensive bowling.”