Published: Nov 22, 2015, 11:36 AM (IST)
Edited: Nov 22, 2015, 03:31 PM (IST)
India’s premium leg spinner Amit Mishra has always been over looked owning to his tough luck. Mishra has always played under the shadows of his much more famous and publicaly acknowledged spinning partners. Mishra is currently warming the bench after being dropped for the second Test at Bengaluru in the ongoing Gandhi-Mandela Series 2015. With South Africa unable to gauge the spinning ball till now (since ages) it makes for a great chance for Mishra to come back in the playing XI for third Test at Nagpur. Vishal Mehra explains more on the same. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs South Africa 2015, 3rd Test at Nagpur
After being abruptly dropped from the second Test against South Africa, Amit Mishra will surely remember Bengaluru for all the wrong reasons (physical assault accusations). Mishra who troubled the African batsmen with much guile at Mohali must be gutted on being dropped from the playing XI knowing that he has a very good chance of upping his wickets tally in the series. Most of the South African batsmen have fallen to the spinners 27-times out of 30. Mishra has picked only 3 out of the 27 wickets but more importantly he has dismissed in form and dangerous looking AB de Villiers not once but twice.
Mishra came into national reckoning after a gap of 3 years last playing for India in 2011 against England at The Oval going wicket less. It wasn’t that India was producing spinners of greater pedigree in these years. It was just that Mishra’s did not find favor with the management who never found him suitable in the scheme of things for five day format. Domestically, Mishra has kept on churning performances for his state team Haryana picking up 457 in the process. ALSO READ: Shikhar Dhawan: Second lifeline in Tests
Mishra has been with team India for the one-day international (ODI) and Twenty20 format in these years of absence from Tests picking up details and understanding himself and leg spin much better than before.
Mishra in his last full series for India against Sri Lanka in August early this year picked up 15 wickets @ a miserly average of 15 bettered only by teammate Ravichandran Ashwin who bagged 23 wickets. This clearly shows that Mishra does have the skills and also the potential to be a crucial groove in the India bowling unit in foreign conditions as leg spinners have become a greater threat in modern times, partly owing to batsmen’s unfamiliarity of the bowling style.
Mishra bowling in home conditions is as Mitchell Johnson (scary) a thought with his flight and pinpoint accuracy. Another thing that will go as a tick in the box while picking the playing eleven could be Mishra’s batting abilities. He has time and again shown that if given confidence on the field he can stick around or hit boundaries when needed on the pitch. When every other batsman failed during India’s tour of England 2011 it was Mishra who batted with much grit and determination averaging around 38.25 under seaming and swinging conditions. His last series against Sri Lanka also produced decent results with the bat against quality spinners. ALSO READ: India vs South Africa 2015: Hosts know spin-friendly pitches key to victory, says Sanjay Manjrekar
Virat Kohli has in his press conference stated that Amit Mishra was dropped because of the nature and atmospheric conditions of the stadium (rain forecasted) and pitch. Stuart Binny who was drafted in the team only managed to bowl three overs before the spinners ruled the roost. The decision to play Binny and not utilize him completely seemed absurd and funny to a certain extent. With conditions at Nagpur still under wraps it only makes sense to bring back Mishra in place of Binny as it seems highly unlikely that the curator will leave much greenery on the pitch.
India would definitely want to quash any chances of a South Africa revival (known to come back from behind to win/draw series). Playing Mishra or Mishi Bhai as he is fondly called by his team-mates will only give India the license to thwart hopes of the South Africans.
( Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @vishal_oxyjinn.)
