5 Indian Spin Prodigies who failed to fulfil their potential

Amit Mishra in action for India against West Indies in 2011

Amit Mishra

The classical attacking leg spinner from Delhi is another name that has been in and out of Team India for a while. Since he made his ODI debut back in 2003 against South Africa at Dhaka, Bangladesh, he has only played a total of 27 ODIs in which he has taken 45 wickets at a decent economy rate of 4.59.

That he has managed to gather only 27 games under his belt in over a decade does not give you a fair idea about Mishra’s prowess as a spin bowler. He made his debut at a time when stalwarts like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were at their peak, seriously denting his chances of making it to the Indian side.

He had to wait till 2008 to get his first cap in Tests and that too happened courtesy of an injury to Anil Kumble who was forced to sit out of the Mohali test match against Australia. He had a dream start to his Test career, bagging 14 wickets from the three Tests that he played – in the process being touted as the heir apparent to legendary leg spinner Anil Kumble, who was retiring from international cricket after that series.

But his inability to turn the ball on flat surfaces and an occasional failure to contain runs has cost him his place in the side; and with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel doing a fairly decent job in the spin department; it seems Mishra’s wait has just got longer.