Amit Mishra - Coming back to life

From September 2009 to August 2010, Mishra played 7 ODIs against 5 countries and 5 Tests against 4 countries as he wandered luckless and wicketless from continent to continent. He was in the team the last time India came to Zimbabwe only to receive a royal thrashing at the hands of the opposition each time he took the field. It seemed as if the Amit Mishra fairy-tale was over.

Yet another comeback was due and this happened in the Caribbean after the triumph of the 2011 World Cup when India again sent a weakened side for the hastily squeezed-in series. This time though, Mishra was on top of his game as he picked up 11 wickets in the 5 ODIs as well as a 4-wicket haul in the Kingston Test.

He was there yet again when India’s frontline spinner (this time in Harbhajan Singh) crashed to his knees in England in a series which was going from bad to worse. Mishra, slotted in for the last two Tests, picked up 3 wickets at over 100 runs apiece. An 84 with the bat was the sole effort to redeem some glory.

Soon after that, Pragyan Ojha rediscovered his mojo and Ashwin emerged with the cloak of Anil Kumble and mantle of Harbhajan Singh. In ODIs, Ravindra Jadeja took over the reins from Ojha.

Somewhere down the line, Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh re-emerged with varying levels of success – the latter, for a brief moment, displaying his tricks of old in a spell of pure magic against England in the World T20. A new name was added to the list in the form of Rahul Sharma – a tall leggie whose stock ball was the top spinner. Déjà vu, anyone?

Mishra was far away even from being in contention at this point of time, even when the English spinners were out-bowling their Indian counterparts on the dustbowls prepared in high anticipation of an Indian victory. Then came Australia and Ravindra Jadeja turned into a giant-killing legend, overtaking Ojha to claim the No. 2 spinner’s slot in the Test team as the Aussies were ground to dust.

What worked in Mishra’s favour was the IPL that followed. He had always been prolific in the IPL with two hat-tricks and a load of wickets to his name. He added another “threesome” – this time against the Pune Warriors and ended up with more wickets than any other Indian spinner barring Harbhajan.

Amit Mishra has had stupendous success in IPL

If that wasn’t enough, he scored runs at crucial junctures to bolster the middling efforts of the brittle Sunrisers’ middle orders. Not to forget that he had scored his maiden century – which turned out to be a double – in the Ranji Trophy some time back.

India’s success in the Champions Trophy and the tri-series that followed meant that Mishra had to bide his time to get back into the team. The wait has been worth it as he has befuddled the hapless Zimbabwean batsmen more often than not with a vicious googly that he has so often befuddled batsmen with.

The romantics may silently mutter against the non-inclusion of Parvez Rasool in the team, but they will not grudge Mishra his place in the sun.

In his first 11 ODIs, Mishra had 8 wickets; in his last 7, he has picked up 20.

In his last 7 ODIs, Amit Mishra has picked up 20 wickets

Critics may point to the quality of opposition, but any bowler worth his salt will tell you that a wicket taken is a wicket earned. The day when Ashwin and company return to the Indian team is not far; the question, therefore, is whether Mishra would have done enough for the selectors to have a major rethink.

Only Bulawayo can tell.