India vs England 2016: 5 causes of concern for Team India after the first test

#3 Amit Mishra disappoints on return to Test team

Amit Mishra had a frustrating outing in the first test at Rajkot (Courtesy: Bcci.tv)

Amit Mishra came into the match on a high, after a man of the series performance in the ODI series against New Zealand. He had done well in the past in the limited opportunities he had got in the test team, and must have been relishing his chance to bowl against an English batting line-up that looked at sea against spin in Bangladesh.

But it did not go as planned for the leggie as he struggled to have any kind of impact on the game. The English batters targeted him in their first innings, not allowing him the opportunity to settle and get into a rhythm. It was a below-par performance by Mishra in the first innings, yielding him just one scalp in 23 overs, in which he conceded runs at an economy of more than 4 runs per over.

It was the same story in the second innings as well, as the likes of Alastair Cook and debutant Haseeb Hameed took a liking to Mishra’s gentle leg-spinners. He finished the second innings conceding 60 runs in 13 overs at 4.61 runs per over, very high for a test match.

However, he did manage to pick two wickets out of the three that fell, but in an overall sense, it was a disappointing game for the 33-year old and it will be interesting to see if he retains his place for the next game at Vizag.