Amit Mishra is a leg spinner who plays for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy. Mishra, who bowls with a lovely loop and nagging accuracy, has a sharply spinning leg break which happens to be his stock delivery. He also has the top spinner, and a well disguised wrong-un. He was initially called into the Indian squad for the Test series against the West Indies in 2002, but was not given a chance to play. After that he was not picked until 2007 when he was drafted in to play against the South African A side in 2007. Immediately he made an impact, taking 5 wickets in that game and he soon came into the national reckoning with some consistent performances. Mishra was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils to play in the IPL and that is where he shone, by taking a hat-trick in a game against the Deccan Chargers. He displayed a fine temperament, and was not afraid to give the ball a rip. Mishra contributed well in IPL-1 for Delhi by taking 14 wickets in 11 games and soon he was knocking on the doors of the national side. He went to Australia to play the Emerging Players' tournament in Brisbane and starred with the ball as India emerged victorious. Mishra was selected in the Indian squad to play the visiting Aussies in 2008 and he got his opportunity to make his debut at Mohali when Anil Kumble got injured. He took 5 wickets in the first innings - making him only the sixth Indian to have a fifer on debut. He added a further 2 wickets in the second to finish with 7 for the match. Mishra played in the next 2 games as well finishing with 14 wickets in the series. Mishra became the leading leg-spinner in the country after Anil Kumble retired and picked up a further 6 wickets in the 2-Test series against England in December 2008. When India toured New Zealand he was left out of the side as the seam friendly wickets did not allow for a second spinner in the squad. Mishra bowled well without much luck in the second edition of the IPL as his side were knocked out by a 'Gilly' storm in the semi-final. Mishra last played for India, in a Test match, in 2011 when India were beaten 0-4 at England on their way to gaining the number one spot in Test cricket. However, he registered his highest Test score of 84 in the last Test. Mishra has been in and out of the ODI squads for a while but has not been able to make it to the Test squad again. He was thought to be Anil Kumble's successor but has not been able to keep up his reputation.
