Amit Mishra, the Indian cricketer, has spoken about his ordeals and difficulties of being left out from the national side at 41 years old. Even though there was no formal announcement of retirement by him as a spinner, he revealed how injuries and team combinations never allowed him get a permanent spot in the squad.
During an interview on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube show ‘Unplugged’, he discussed some painful memories of his cricketing days.
Overall, Amit Mishra played for India in 22 tests, 36 ODIs and 10 T20s took a total of 156 wickets across formats. Nevertheless, his career ended on a sad note with many bitter experiences. This implies that personal relations and team selection dynamics have greatly impacted his path. “Majority matters when it comes to team selection. It is not just enough playing good cricketing sport. The captain always picks the Playing XI. I had very good understanding with MS Dhoni. I asked Dhoni twice why I wasn’t getting picked up- he told me that you don’t fit into the combination,” says Mishra.
He remembers being told that he is given rest even though he had never asked for one himself.
“I was informed that they were giving me rest; I didn’t ask for it; I hadn’t even played ten Test matches by then – why do I need rest or break? To tell you honestly, I didn’t have permission [to question Dhoni]. Yes, I asked my coach and he told me to go ask Dhoni but like I said earlier, I did not have permission to go and talk to Dhoni because of where I stood in terms of my position in the team. When they told me again why they are giving you rest,” he added.
Mishra’s situation did not improve when Virat Kohli replaced Dhoni as the captain too. Again despite doing well, he was sidelined.
“The toughest phase of my career came when I got a knee injury five years back. That was in the middle of that match. The series before I was the Man of the Series and the Man of the Match against New Zealand. This used to be one thing earlier, I don’t know whether it is still there or not, but if you get injured on field, then you will return; it was like that with Wriddhiman Saha, Anil Kumble and Hardik Pandya, but I never had it,” Amit Mishra told.
He also talked about an incident during IPL where he sought clarification on his future from Kohli.
“The last match of ours in IPL was against RCB. I asked him to give a clear picture about my career. He said ‘Mishy bhai, let me ask and tell you’. Virat Kohli helped me in my comeback series against Sri Lanka – 2016. When I did well and India needed a leg-spinner for Sri Lanka who can bowl. Once I came back, he said ‘from today onwards you will train for fitness with me’. I told him my body cannot take weights like yours but running and whatever else you want to do are fine by me too. Then again i got injured so i asked him but never got any reply directly. messaged him. He read the text saying ‘I’ll let you know’but never did,’ said Amit Mishra.
These revelations from Mishra highlight the intricate dynamics within a cricket team. And bring out emotions players face as they try to make their way through careers
