Former India Star Spinner Amit Mishra Opens Up on His Silent Struggle: A Battle Against Depression!

Team India’s former leg-spinner Amit Mishra has recently announced his retirement across all formats of international cricket at the age of 42. He opened up about the psychological struggles he underwent during the most challenging phases of his career, where he was snubbed for five years after his debut in 2003.

The experienced spinner’s cricket career was filled with highs and lows. He openly shared how he was able to overcome the depression during the 5-year period when he was sidelined from the national squad.

Mishra’s International Debut Game

On April 13, 2003, Amit Mishra made his first international appearance by making his ODI debut against South Africa. However, he delivered a mediocre performance at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.

The right-arm leg spinner bowled five overs, but ended up with bowling figures of 1/29. It includes the solo wicket of the Proteas opening batter, Neil McKenzie, who departed scoring 12 runs out of 33 balls.

But Mishra found it challenging to secure his spot in India’s squad given the presence of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble as the team’s core spinners.

Amit Mishra’s Comeback in International Cricket After a 5-Year Gap

Anil Kumble’s injury paved the way for Amit Mishra to return to international cricket in 2008. He made use of the opportunity and marked his red-ball debut in the 2nd test of the 4-match series against Australia at the PCA stadium in Mohali.

This was the first instance where Mishra proved his classy bowling style as a leg-spinner. He claimed 7 wickets in the match, including a 5-fer in the first innings.

His bowling figures of 5/71 in 26.4 overs (including 8 maiden overs) and 2/35 in 11.4 overs (including 2 maiden overs) played a crucial role in India’s 320-run victory.

Especially, the key Aussie batters like Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, and Simon Katich were clueless against his attacking bowling style and ended up being dismissed.

Despite his outstanding performance, he was able to strengthen his position only for the bilateral series as India’s reliable leg-spinner and was sidelined for the ODI World Cup 2011.

‘Could Have Played More Matches’: Amit Mishra

Even though Amit Mishra was not ready to blame others for his snub from India’s squad, he felt there could have been a chance for him to play more matches if there hadn’t been a 5-year gap in his career:

“Yes! There was a 5-year gap in my cricket career. Suppose I didn’t have any, then I could have played more games. Back in 2003, I made my debut in an ODI match against South Africa. Since then, there was a five-year gap, and I couldn’t play for India.

Even though I can’t say that I regret, all I can say is that I was performing and giving my best.

Suppose I had made my comeback earlier, such as 3 to 4 years ago or two years ago, then I could have definitely played more games and delivered a better performance. So, that is one aspect. But, I repeat, there was no feel of regret,” Mishra told.

‘Depressed for 1 to 1.5 Years’: Amit Mishra Reveals Unknown Facts

After being sidelined from international cricket, Amit Mishra shifted his concentration to play domestic cricket representing Haryana. But, he revealed that he was depressed for one to one and a half years.

“See! I gave my 100% whenever there was a chance. And I proved my level best. But I was deeply depressed for 1 to 1.5 years. At that time, I was very angry as the situation was very tough and there were limited opportunities. But, after one to two years, I backed myself and said I am playing cricket and want to play cricket.

So, I asked myself how to get better at cricket and improve even the smallest aspects of my game. I kept on questioning myself about what improvements I should make in my cricketing skills.

Eventually, I felt that a cricketer should not get depressed with the sport and be motivated to overcome all the obstacles. And later, I started to enjoy playing cricket and kept myself encouraged at all times,” Mishra added.

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A Recap of Amit Mishra’s International Cricket Career: Tests, ODIs, and T20Is

Amit Mishra played 68 international matches in his career and claimed 156 wickets to his name. Here is a breakdown of his contributions across all three different formats, namely the Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs), and T20 Internationals (T20Is):