Amit Mishra - The wicket taker India desperately needs
Amit Mishra prefers wearing jersey number 99 whenever he plays limited overs cricket for India. But, he only gets to wear that number when Ravichandran Ashwin has been rested. On the few occasions the two play together, Mishra wears number 9. Ask anyone how many times, if any, they have seen Mishra wearing 9 and the answer would not be more than twice or thrice. That's because Mishra has hardly played in a full strength Indian limited overs team.
Amit Mishra bowls a lot of dot balls whenever he plays limited overs cricket for India. Amit Mishra goes for only 4.6 runs per over whenever he plays limited overs cricket for India. Most importantly, Amit Mishra takes a lot of wickets whenever he plays limited overs cricket for India.
Aspects Other Than Bowling Keeping Mishra out of The Team
It's strange then that Mishra doesn't play too many limited overs cricket for India. More than strange, it's unfortunate.
It's not his bowling that leads to his downfall, it's all the other aspects. He doesn't find a place because he is not much of an ODI batsman, because he's not a 'Jonty Rhodes' on the field, and because he's not a gifted athlete.
What Amit Mishra wasn't, Ravindra Jadeja was. A good lower order batsman, a brilliant fielder. To add to that, he was also a consistent bowler at his peak from the 2012-13 season until the 2015 World Cup. India didn't require Mishra as much, the need was certainly not as much.
Jadeja has since then lost form, and eventually his place in the team. The fast bowlers, in the absence of Mohammed Shami, have appeared listless. India have lost an ODI series to Bangladesh. They have lost two T20Is at home to South Africa, failing to defend 200 in one of them.
The need for a genuine wicket taker has never been so much. The need for someone to complement the now world-class Ashwin has never been so much. The need for someone like Amit Mishra has never been so much.
Despite his lack of mastery in fielding, fitness or limited overs batting, India have to play Mishra. Because, they need wicket takers desperately, and Mishra takes them more than anyone else in contention.
Before the Test match tour to Sri Lanka in August this year, Mishra was criticised for not giving enough revolutions on the ball. It was said that his bowling didn't have any zip, that it didn't bounce viciously after landing. It was said that he was slow, very slow through the air. It was said it was easy to pick him, that it was even easier to score off him.
For all the criticism, valid as some of it was, he had picked up a lot of wickets in limited overs cricket. The critics still had to be won over.
Making a Comeback
The Sri Lankan tour changed a lot for Mishra. He had worked hard on ironing out his flaws, on silencing his critics. And silence his critics, he did. In style.
On his comeback, Mishra bowled brilliantly. The zip was there, he was giving more revolutions on the ball, he was a bit faster through the air, he wasn't compromising on his flight. And he was getting Test match wickets, something that had eluded him for a long time.
While people will say that it was Test Cricket, we need to look at the vast improvements he's made in his bowling. We need to acknowledge how far his bowling has come. We need to realise how important he could be to the Indian team.
With the pacers leaking runs at the drop of a hat, and Axar Patel not yet a consistent wicket-taker, Mishra will be the perfect foil for Ashwin, to take wickets, to stop the runs. Three spinners, with Ashwin & Mishra as the wicket takers and Patel as the stifler of runs, will be the ideal way forward for India.
People doubt whether Mishra can handle the big stage. They have probably forgotten that it's not as if Mishra hasn't performed this role for India in a big tournament yet. He had, in the 2014 World T20, a tournament into which India went with an almost identical combination, with Jadeja playing instead of Patel.
They did quite well there, ending as the runners-up. A major reason for their success was Mishra. Through fight, guile and spin, Mishra took 10 wickets in 6 matches at an economy of just over 6 per over. Cutting through batting line-ups, Mishra showed he belonged.
Mishra showed that he can handle the big stage, that he can handle the pressure, that he can be India's strike bowler. But, after that he played in a full strength team only two more times.
Indian limited overs cricket is not exactly in the pink of its health. There are a lot of issues which need to be addressed. But, none are more important than finding a bowler who can take wickets. It's clear that the selectors have taken note of this, as well as Mishra's marked improvement. It's not without reason that they've handed him a limited overs comeback by including him for the South African series.
Now, it's MS Dhoni's turn to show faith in Mishra, to back him to the hilt, just the way Virat Kohli did in Sri Lanka. Once that happens, Mishra will, in all likelihood, take the wickets India needs him to take. He just needs an arm around the shoulder. Once that happens, we will see him wear number 9 a lot more.
He's 32. If India doesn't treat him properly now, they'll miss out on one of the very few genuine wicket takers the country currently has. The short, round leg spinner with a ferocious googly and an ever-present smile.