New Amit Mishra swaps pressure for enjoyment

[Ironhide]

Very Good article on Amit Mishra, it is good to see him enjoying his cricket and stopped worrying about selections as this mindset destroys your enjoyment in the game and also affects your personal life, quoting few paragraphs but the whole article is good read:

I met the new Amit Mishra during this year's IPL. He sounded almost like a sage. I asked him a question that ought to have worried him: reminded him how in 2014 he was India's second best bowler in the World T20; and that he did not go to England. How did he expect to be able to stake his claim again, given India hardly play that format at international level? Did that then make the IPL a high-pressure event? Mishra said the previous World T20 was history. That he loved to stay in the present. If you don't think about things that are not in your control, you face less pressure," he said. "I don't control the team selection. I can't do anything about it, I can't say anything to anybody. In my control is my bowling, my batting, my fielding. I can improve that. I have almost stopped worrying about what's not in my control."

Two years ago, Mishra said - with no particular moment of epiphany to talk of - he began to stop thinking about the India selection. That year he took 21 IPL wickets at 18.76, giving away only 6.35 runs an over. I asked him what, then, did a good performance signify, if not a chance to make a national comeback, a higher hope? What did he think on the nights he did well? "Enjoy just the performance, don't think if I do well I will get selected in some team. Think: if I have done well in this game, all the batsmen will be watching my video. How do I stay ahead of them? If in the next match thukai ho gayi [if I am hit around] then I should get depressed."

The last two editions of the IPL, though, and the World T20, had shown a smarter legspinner. When he took 10 wickets at 14.7 each and an economy rate of 6.68, he was the No. 5 bowler in the World T20 in 2014. Three of the top five were legspinners. "Legspinners have the skill to take wickets," Mishra said. "The batsmen should know this bowler can get him out. Bowlers are only now realising that." What did he mean by the skill to get wickets? "Spin the ball. Not just sideways. Impart revolutions on the ball. Flight it. But also you should know when to flight it. You should have the variations. Even if you don't bowl them, the batsmen should know you have the variations." We discussed how he has gone slower and loopier, at a time when spinners are bowling flatter and flatter. He said it gives the batsmen time to think, time to doubt, time to make mistakes. He said bowling to world-class hitters like Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and Glenn Maxwell, you have to force them to think, you have to give them time to think. If you bowl fast, good batsmen love it. So if it was 60 for 2 in the seventh over, and he was bowling to Maxwell for the first time, what would his first delivery be? "The hardest-spun legbreak." What if he pulls off a reverse sweep? "That means he doesn't fancy facing me properly. I will bowl another big legbreak."

One of the bigger changes Mishra has made over the years is the front-of-the-hand quicker delivery, which spins less and skids through, making sure the batsmen have more to do than sit back and play only his slower legbreak after it has turned. "It has been hard work," Mishra said. "I have worked really hard to develop these variations. Whenever I can get hold of anybody - senior player, batsman, coach - I show them the variations and ask them if they can pick it. It is an art to do all this without changing your action. To bowl a big legbreak you have to put a lot of shoulder, wrist, body into it. You have to hold back for the smaller legbreak, which is hard to tell from outside. "That's the whole point. You shouldn't know it, the batsman shouldn't know it." They are catching up, though. This is a world of video analysis, and Mishra watches plenty, both of himself and batsmen. He knows he has a tendency to at times let his body weight fall away from the umpire, because of which he ends up pushing the ball down the leg side. He now doesn't need a coach to tell him that It felt like talking to an experienced legspinner. Mishra was not just talking about "right areas". He was in touch with his art enough to be able to explain the nuances. Maybe it took him long to learn them. And it has made him feel wistful again. I asked him if he wondered what might have been if he had been this smart earlier. He slowed down a moment, and then said, "No doubt, if I had learnt all this earlier I would have done better at international level. It is not too late yet. I am doing well. I am making the batsmen think twice."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/892629.html

[sensible-indian]

Greattttttttttttttttt.............. Hoping to see Amitji come back as a badass spinner.

[Cricket Tragic]

More important for him to swap samosas for salad to reduce the size of that belly.

[Laaloo]

Greattttttttttttttttt.............. Hoping to see Amitji come back as a badass spinner.

He will be a badass at the buffet table.

[Ironhide]

More important for him to swap samosas for salad to reduce the size of that belly.

He will be a badass at the buffet table.

He is working on improving his fitness too, from the above article: "Mishra can see that. He is trying to work harder on his fitness to counter his older age of 32."

[Pagalpanti]

IMO tests might suit him more than LOI's. In LOI's he's mentally weak, he just can't handle when batsmen counter attack him. Also his batting could be handy and will make our tail stronger with Ashwin at 8 and him at 9.

[Ironhide]

IMO tests might suit him more than LOI's. In LOI's he's mentally weak' date=' he just can't handle when batsmen counter attack him. Also his batting could be handy and will make our tail stronger with Ashwin at 8 and him at 9.[/quote'] That is the point of this interview, Mishra has admitted that he used to get under pressure thinking about his team spot and selections, now he has stopped doing that and has matured as a Leg spinner, just go through the above article or at least the above paragraphs.

[gakgupta]

His weakness has been more to do with his mind than anything else.......For me...he is a decent leg spinner who would have contributed a lot to the Indian team ....esp away tours.....But sadly, he couldn't make of the opportunities given to him.... But, if he really mean what he said, he can be a wonderful addition to this indian test team.......a second spinner in sub-continent pitches and who knows...a primary spinner in away tours....esp England, Australia and NZ.... In test matches agility is not as important as skill....so i wouldn't worry too much about his weight....For a leg spinner....as a matter of fact, any spinner should have a zip of the surface......and he lacks a little bit in this aspect.....if he can work on that aspect and ofcourse his pyschlogical problems...he can be a beast.... Boy...his leggies spins huge

[MCcricket]

Mishra is a waste of a spot, what r selectors hoping to achieve,he doesn't have guile, orturns big, temperamentally weak, give guy like Chahal a chance rather

[Gunner]

lol at the title :cantstop: IMO Mishraji should be given a decent run until we find a proper young legbreak bowler.

[kosingh]

This guy made his international debut over 10 years ago. Wish the selectors would bury him once and for all

[SLICKR392]

Have a decent, if not a good enough physique first. He's a joke as a sportsman.

[G_B_]

run fatboy run

[adi B]

Kuch bhi :cantstop:

[sensible-indian]

If Mishra becomes the 2nd spinner, we will have 2 fatties bowling in tandem.

[The Realist]

At least Mishra has some actual talent to go with his belly. Jadeja in contrast is a complete hack and a joke at test level but has managed to be selected due to favouritism.

[Pagalpanti]

That is the point of this interview' date=' Mishra has admitted that he used to get under pressure thinking about his team spot and selections, now he has stopped doing that and has matured as a Leg spinner, just go through the above article or at least the above paragraphs.[/quote'] I did but he's made several come backs and his inadequacy in handling pressure is well documented in all those games. Moreover in ODI's and T20s we have enough spin options for a while and his fielding - the less we talk about it the better. His only shot is to make a comeback in test team.

[kosingh]

It's bad enough that the natural Indian body is quite unathletic -- but when you're born with an unathletic body and clearly don't even take even your diet seriously -- it can be very frustrating to see. I am in no way athletic. I play tennis on weekends and that's my exercise for the week. But I am sure I eat better than 50% of Indian cricketers and I am sure I can outrun 50% of them too. It's one thing if you have the talent of Inzamam, Ranatunga, Boon or Warne .... then you can afford to slack on fitness. But when you are Amit ****ing Mishra....

[gakgupta]

I did but he's made several come backs and his inadequacy in handling pressure is well documented in all those games. Moreover in ODI's and T20s we have enough spin options for a while and his fielding - the less we talk about it the better. His only shot is to make a comeback in test team.

People do change....who knows, he can make a wonderful comeback and contribute big time to team india