By: Sandipan Bose
It is tough being a Amit Mishra in the dressing room today. He came into the Test team in the early 2000 and had to wait to get his turn till Anil Kumble said ‘goodbye’ to Test cricket.
Then chairman of the selection committee Krish Srikanth said that India have a Mishra to compensate Kumble’s loss. And Srikkanth wasn’t wrong. Mishra started off well till it became a known secret that he lacks pace.
It seemed to have hit his reputation hard. So much so that he was in and out of the Test team from the 2008 debut game against Australia. The Haryana veteran spinner kept making comebacks after getting dropped repeatedly.
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So much so that a seasoned Mishra is used to all kinds of treatments. Right from being left out of the playing XI due to non-performance to facing stiff competition from a junior teammate in Jayant Yadav, Mishra has seen it all.
Ahead of the Mohali Test against England, his chances of playing the Test are bleak. Still he must be hoping against hope because the Mohali track is a happy hunting ground for him. There is also a section in BCCI who believes that the Mohali track would be more suitable for Mishra.
But the team management could feel different and may extend their support to young Yadav, who would be bubbling with confidence to take the field after a successful debut in the last Test.
There is also a thinking in the circuit that Mishra is good at shorter versions of the game and his slow leg-spin isn’t good enough for Test cricket. Whether this is true or not is something which only time can tell.
But right now, it’s certainly tough to be in Mishra’s shoes!
