I wish no cricketer goes through what I have: Mishra

JAMAICA: He has had the West Indies batsmen in knots in the ongoing ODI series but not so long ago, Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra was considering hanging up his boots out of sheer frustration at being dropped despite decent performances.

The affable spinner's nine wickets at an average of 17.00 in the ongoing series exceed the value the figures can ever suggest. Yet, Mishra lives with the dictum of his day-to-day philosophy.

"I once took seven wickets and scored a 50 against Bangladesh in a Test - and was promptly dropped in the next game," recalled Mishra.

He could have also mentioned his dramatic first year in Test cricket in 2008 when he took 20 wickets in five games against Australia and England and yet was sent to cool his heels for the entire next year.

It is not as if he has been compensated in one-day internationals. He made his ODI debut in 2003 and after just two games was banished for more than six years.

He did have his shoulder injury to contend with but he was still picking wickets by bucketful in domestic cricket.

"I wish no cricketer goes through what I have in my career," says the 28-year-old cricketer.

"But for my family who egged me on and Mr Ranbir Mahendra (Haryana cricket supremo) I would have hung my boots long ago."

Mishra is mindful that during this spell of 2008-09, Anil Kumble made a mighty return and Harbhajan Singh was still on top of his craft.

Also only one spinner is usually preferred in Tests abroad. Yet the feeling lingered that he was being unfairly treated with.

"I just let out my frustration on a cricket ball. I bowled and bowled and bowled. During matches, in nets and many a time alone. I worked on my leg-spinners, drifters, googly, variations in pace, degree of spin, everything," says an eager-faced Mishra who has nearly 400 first-class wickets to show for his 11-year toil.

Mishra was finally thrown a lifeline in the form of IPL. He was picked up cheaply by Delhi Daredevils in the first year auction in 2008 but his impressive hauls, including two hat-tricks, have ensured he could no longer be ignored so brazenly.

Yet it hurt him immensely that he wasn't part of India's World Cup squad as Piyush Chawla was preferred to him.

However, he got his break in the present series and has been impressive to the extent that legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar feels he ought to be on plane to England later in the summer.

Having learnt the bitter lessons, Mishra now believes only wickets can give him a good run in international cricket.

"Economy is alright but wickets matter more to me. There's no point in going for 0 for 45, it's better to have 3 for 50. It's good for you, it's good for team."

Says Eric Simmons, India's bowling coach, "Mishra is very confident, very aggressive. He gets a lot of drift which is always a very good sign for a leg-spinner."

Mishra's approach has helped India as many a time in the past, the middle overs were passive periods for the team. Most opposition could recover from poor starts only because there was nobody to pick wickets in the middle overs.

"Even though I can bowl three variations of googly, my stock bowl is leg-break. I feel my strength is the loop and the drift and dip which accompany it," remarked Mishra.

His 36 wickets from 10 Tests compare favourably with his idols Shane Warne (25 wickets), Muttiah Muralitharan (40) and Harbhajan Singh (38) at the same cut-off point.

Kumble alone is markedly superior at 53 wickets from 10 matches.
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Years with Chappell as coach worst of my career: Zaheer

NEW DELHI: Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan considers the two years with Greg Chappell as national coach the worst of his decade-long career as the controversial Australian made him feel unwanted in the team.

Zaheer said he and other senior players were constantly worried about their place in the side and were unable to perform during that tumultuous period between 2005 and 2007.

"It was as if you've been framed. It was like 'we don't want you in the team. It's not about performance, we don't like your attitude, you're stopping the growth of cricket in the Indian team'. I felt it personally because I was dropped straight after the Sri Lanka tour, even though I had not performed badly," Zaheer said.

"I was fortunate enough to go to South Africa to represent the Asia XI (in the Afro-Asia Cup). I got about nine wickets and I was recalled for the next series. In that phase it was always a struggle. When you're fighting within the team, when you have a war to fight in your own camp, it is always difficult to win," he said.

Chappell took over as India coach in May 2005 but his tenure was marred by serious differences between him and senior players, including Sachin Tendulkar. He also had a public spat with the then captain, Sourav Ganguly, who was dropped from the team but later recalled.

At the end of his tenure, following India's first round exit from the 2007 World Cup, Chappell decided not to seek an extension of his contract.

Zaheer said, in contrast, former South African batsman Gary Kirsten's tenure as India coach was "amazing".

"He has given everyone their space. He's understood the Indian culture and how we do things. He's taken that step of coming closer to us rather than dictating. He was our friend, not a coach," Zaheer said.

Kirsten took over in tumultuous circumstances but left the job on a high, guiding the Indian team to a historic World Cup triumph after a hiatus of 28 years besides taking them to the pinnacle of Test rankings.

Zaheer said the only positive of Chappell's tenure was the inclusion of youngsters in the team but felt that sacrificing experienced players was not the only way to give opportunities to youth.

"A youngster coming in is a good sign but not at the cost of a cricketer who is doing his bit."

The 32-year-old Baroda pacer said the county stint with Worcestershire came at the right moment for him when things were not going his way.

He signed up with Worcestershire for the 2006 county season and finished as the highest wicket-taker in Division Two of the County Championship, taking 78 wickets at 29.07.

"Worcester taught me the reason I'm playing this game. Sometimes when you play at the highest level, especially in India, the whole country is so passionate about the game, so whether you do well or do badly it affects you in many ways. So when I went to Worcester, it was just me playing cricket."

"I was just enjoying cricket and not thinking about other pressures, about the pressure of performance. Everything was falling into place. I was taking wickets. Even though I was not in the Indian side, I was actually happy," Zaheer said.

Talking about the historic World Cup triumph, in which he was the joint-highest wicket-taker with Shahid Afridi with 21 wickets, Zaheer said he is now a calm and composed player as compared to the emotionally-driven youngster in the 2003 final against Australia.

In the 2011 World Cup final, he bowled three consecutive maidens at the start of the innings.

"It was only a couple of years into international cricket; the World cup journey itself was something special in 2003. That time my thing was to bowl quick. I wanted to be aggressive.

"It was a World Cup final; there were a lot of emotions. As soon as the national anthem finished, there was this rush of young blood. I wanted to do really well, wanted to just blast the Australians apart," he said.

"This World Cup I was aware of the fact that there will be a lot of emotions, I have to deal with it. I have to maintain my calm and focus on the process. I was telling myself just go there and bowl," he added.

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