Amit Mishra focussing on fitness to fend off competition from youngsters
What’s the story?
With the ODI series against England just round the corner, Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra will be keen to build on his success against New Zealand in the same format and thus overcome the somewhat disappointing outings in the recent Test series against England. Speaking to the Times of India, Mishra opened up on the competition with the youngsters in the side as well as his association with former teammate and now India coach, Anil Kumble.
“As a coach, he (Kumble) is very humble and supportive,” Mishra said. “He is always motivating me to do better. Even during our playing days, I always enjoyed his backing, but given his accomplishments, I was hesitant and scared to open up to him. Now the equation has changed. He is more a friend and mentor now, so I open up to him easily.”
In case you didn’t know...
The year 2016 proved to be a mixed bag forMishra as the high of achieving the Man of the Series award in the ODI series against New Zealand was somewhat blighted by his failure to establish himself as a regular in the Indian Test side with Ravindra Jadeja rising above the 34-year-old leg-spinner in the pecking order.
11 wickets in four Test matches might not sound bad, but the superb performances of Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja, as well as the rise of Jayant Yadav, has sidelined Mishra’s prospects in the Test side, at least for the time being.
The heart of the matter
The soft-spoken Haryana cricketer is still optimistic of continuing to play a key role for India as well as his state side with sharp focus on his fitness as well as a planned deviation from his shy nature which has allowed himself to be more open with his former teammate and now India head coach, Anil Kumble.
With a number of talented young spinners on the rise in Indian cricket, Mishra knows that he has stiff competition in his hands, but it’s something he believes will be beneficial for the players themselves as well as the Indian team.
“Honestly speaking, it is very healthy competition. There is a lot of mutual respect among us. We gel very well and wish well for each other. In fact, when I like something about their game, I ask questions and feed off their knowledge and that has been a two-way process in our team,” he said.
What next?
Mishra realises that he has his work cut out to retain his place in the ODI side and regain it in other formats of the game and he is certainly making sure that fitness doesn’t become a reason for not being selected.
“One of the biggest lessons of the year has been to stay fit and avoid injuries. Given the number of youngsters coming into the team, it becomes difficult to make a comeback from injuries. One of the main criteria to keep a place in the team is fitness. (So) I have changed my diet and lifestyle and lost weight. I have stopped eating rotis and completely cut out carbs,” Mishra said.
Sportskeeda’s take
The Champions Trophy in England this year might well be Mishra’s last shot at a major ICC tournament and a solid performance in the ODI and T20 series against England should well seal his ticket for the same. He is not getting any younger and with no shortage of options in the spin department for India, there is no option but to keep performing like the way he did against New Zealand during the ODI series.