13 Interesting facts about Amit Mishra - The Lethal Leggie

Amit Mishra has shouldered the hopes of cricket fans time and again. His craft is second to none while his guile and control can make any batsman look silly on a given day. With the bat, he can chip in with vital contributions, but it is his bowling which spells beauty. He comes across as a cricketer with a sharp cricketing mind and a strong temperament. He has been the “go to” bowler for the captain, and a partnership breaker on demand. In his stop and start career, Mishy has done his part whenever the opportunity has been there. Let’s look at some of the interesting facts about the Indian classic leg-spinner.

1. Born on:

Amit Mishra was born on November 24, 1982, in Delhi.

2. Major teams:

He has represented India, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Haryana, India Blue and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

3. Domestic days:

The classic leg spinner has scalped 510 wickets from 144 matches at an average of 28.94 and an economy of  3.03. Amit Mishra has been fruitful with the bat too. He has so far scored 4006 runs at an average of 22.13. He has 17 fifties and a sublime double century to his name in domestic cricket.

4. Early call up:

Mishra was initially drafted into the Indian squad for a Test against the West Indies in 2002 but was not picked in the starting XI. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut against South Africa during the TVS Cup in 2003. He has been instrumental for India in ODI’s too, picking up 64 wickets from 36 matches at an average of 23.60 and an economy of 4.72

5. Dream Test debut:

Amit Mishra made his Test debut against Australia in the second Test at Mohali (PCA ground) after captain and first-choice leg spinner Anil Kumble was injured. He took 5 wickets for 71 runs in Australia’s first innings and then 2/35 in the second, making him the leading wicket-taker in the match as India proceeded to a decisive victory. He has so far scalped 74 wickets from 21 Test matches at an average of 35.10.

6. T20 skills:

Amit Mishra has played 8 T20I matches, scalping 14 wickets at an average of 13.71. He has been prolific is domestic T20s too, picking up 199 wickets from 149 matches at an average of 21.02. Mishy also has 124 wickets along his name from 112 IPL matches.

7. Records:

During India’s tour of Zimbabwe 2013, hit the record for most wickets by any bowler in a 5-match series. The spinner also equaled Indian bowling great Javagal Srinath’s world record for the most wickets in a bilateral ODI series with 18 wickets.

8. Against the arch-rivals:

Amit Mishra bowled a fine spell two wickets against Pakistan in the 6th match of Asia Cup on 2 February 2014. Mishra’s bowling figures of 2 for 28 from his 10 overs were the sixth best economical bowling figures in Asia Cup history.

9. Heroics:

The highlight of Mishra’s domestic career came in the 2012-13 season for Haryana. He scored 479 runs with the bat; with the highest score of 202 not out against Karnataka. The season also saw him scalp 34 wickets (including 21 wickets in Ranji Trophy) at 29.08, with the best of 5 for 97.

10. 5-Wicket hauls in ODIs:

Amit Mishra has picked 5-wicket hauls against New Zealand and Zimbabwe in ODIs.

11. Record breaking run:

Mishra became only the third leg-spinner after Vaman Kumar (1961) and Narendra Hirwani (1988) to pick up five wickets in an innings on debut. He picked 5/71 against Australia at Mohali in 2008.

12. IPL records:

On 17 April 2013 in season 6 of Indian Premier League (IPL 2013) he took a hat-trick playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Pune Warriors India and with this hat-trick, he became the first player in IPL history to take three hat-tricks. He has previously taken a hat-trick in IPL 2008 playing for Delhi Daredevils against Deccan Chargers and then again in IPL 2011 playing for Deccan Chargers against Kings XI Punjab.

13. Willow power:

The talented leg spinner is good with the bat too. He has plundered 648 runs from 21 Test matches along with 4 fifties. He has also registered 757 runs from 132 List A career matches.