Delhi Capitals' Amit Mishra is ready for IPL 2021
Amit Mishra
|| Indian correspondent ||
The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to begin on April 9 where Delhi Capitals will play their first game on the next day. Ahead of the campaign, Delhi spinner Amit Mishra opened upon his bowling and many more things.
"Any leg-spinner needs a good captain because when the bowler is under attack, you need that sort of a skipper, who would back you to the hilt and give you that requisite confidence even when you have gone for a few runs," Mishra told PTI in an exclusive interview. "… A captain who basically understands the psyche of a leg-spinner."
Mishra has so far played 68 games across formats for India and apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Rahul Chahar, there aren't many quality leg-break bowlers available in the circuit as well.
"In the past 5-6 years, we have had some good leg-spinners but we will get more quality as we get more such bowlers, who have learnt the craft, and share the knowledge of their art with next generation. The passing of knowledge is very important more so for leg spin which is an art form," said Mishra," who is the second-highest wicket-taker with 160 wickets from 150 IPL games, just behind Lasith Malinga’s 170 wickets as well.
"I am not for once saying that we don’t have good leg-spinners, we have quite a few but yes what a lot of them need is guidance. Once that guidance is available, you will see a large number of them. You should know how to bowl according to situations and which particular variation suits which situation. Also, a wrist spinner, apart from being a good wicket-taking option, should also strive to be someone who can also play the restrictive role, if need be," he added while talking about the bowling.
He last featured for India in 2017, and in his last ODI series he was Man of the Series with 15 wickets against New Zealand in 2016 as well and after two more white-ball games (in T20I format), he was dropped too.
"T20 is a game where you can’t afford to relax, especially in IPL, because batsmen are always looking to attack you. If you look over the years, how much variations that has come in T20 strokeplay and the bowler also needs to evolve," he revealed.
"I can’t stop people from drawing their own conclusions but a proof of my abilities is the fact that I am playing the world’s toughest T20 league for the past 13 seasons, which is an achievement in itself. I am still second in the list of all-time T20 wicket-takers in IPL. Isse zyada kya performance karega insaan? (What else can one do?) I am a top performer in an elite league, where competition is fierce. My job is to perform and I have been doing that for ages now, so what people think about me hardly makes a difference," he concluded.
