‘It’s frustrating…’: Amit Mishra opens up about his on-and-off international career

The starting-stopping international career of Amit Mishra had two distinct phases. The first one was spent dealing with the high pressure of expectations that came by replacing Anil Kumble, and the second one was dealing with the competition that came with emergence of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

The basics of Test cricket had changed by the time, and it caused Amit Mishra’s 76 wickets in 22 Tests not being a fair assessment of his skills as a bowler- since he had a sharp leg-break and a strong googly, but he was being used as the third option after Ashwin and Jadeja.

“It was a very disappointing thing. Sometimes you’re in the team, sometimes you’re out. Sometimes you get a chance in the playing eleven, sometimes you don’t. Of course, it’s frustrating, and I was frustrated many times, no doubt. But then you remember that your dream is to play cricket for India. You are with the national team, and millions of people are working so hard just to be there. You are one of the 15 players on the Indian team. So, I tried to stay positive,” Mishra told PTI Videos in an exclusive interview.

Despite his evident talent, Amit Mishra stated how being in and out of the team was a mentally tough thing to face, mentioning that he constantly thought about what he could improve in order to get better. He even said how whenever he got the chance, he performed well and was happy about that.

“Whenever I was frustrated, I thought about what I could improve on. Whether it was my fitness, batting, or bowling, I always focused on getting better. Whenever I got a chance to play for the Indian team, I performed well, and I’m very happy about that. I never shied away from hard work,” Mishra said.