Amit Mishra retires from cricket
India legspinner Amit Mishra has announced his retirement from cricket at the age of 42. He played all forms of international cricket from 2003 to 2017 and finishes with 22 Tests, 36 ODIs and 10 T20Is. His last competitive fixture came for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2024.”I’ve played cricket for 25 years across three decades with legends like Sachin Tendulkar, under leaders like MS Dhoni, and with current stars like Rohit Sharma,” Mishra told PTI. “Now that I’m slowly stepping away, it’s emotional, of course. Cricket gave me everything – respect, identity, and purpose.”Not everyone gets a grand farewell or big press conference, and that’s okay. What matters to me is that I gave everything I had. I played with heart. I performed whenever I got the opportunity.”
Mishra played for four teams in the IPL: Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals), Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad and LSG. Apart from IPL 2022, he played all the other seasons of the tournament from 2008 to 2024. He finishes with 174 IPL wickets from 162 matches, which is eighth on the overall list. He also had the most hat-tricks (three) in the IPL – in 2008, 2011 and 2013.”I’d say the defining moment [in my IPL career] was the hat-trick I took in the 2008 IPL, where I also took five wickets in the match,” Mishra said. “From there, I made a comeback to the Indian team. Before that, I was consistently performing well in domestic cricket, taking 35-45 wickets every season, but I couldn’t get back into the national team.”That IPL hat-trick changed things for me. I had also performed well in Syed Mushtaq Ali the preceding year taking 25 wickets, which helped me get an IPL contract (with Delhi Daredevils).”After that hat-trick, I was back in the Indian team continuously and my career in T20 also started.”Mishra started his career with Haryana on the domestic circuit and made his first-class debut in 2000-01. He impressed with his classical legbreaks and he had an effective googly too. He made his international debut in 2003, in an ODI against South Africa in Dhaka. With Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble taking the spinners’ spots in Tests around that time, Mishra’s Test debut only came in October 2008 against Australia in Mohali, when Kumble was ruled out with an injury. He took a five-wicket haul on debut but he was rarely among India’s premier spinners and did not get a long run in any of the formats.”It was a big thing to fill the shoes of Anil Kumble, there was pressure” Mishra said.Mishra continued to excel in domestic cricket for Haryana and in the IPL, which resulted in comebacks to the India side, including for the 2013 Champions Trophy and the 2014 T20 World Cup.”It was a very disappointing thing,” Mishra said about being in and out of the team over the years. “Sometimes you’re in the team, sometimes you’re out. Sometimes you get a chance in the playing eleven, sometimes you don’t. Of course, it’s frustrating, and I was frustrated many times, no doubt.”But then you remember that your dream is to play cricket for India. You are with the national team, and millions of people are working so hard just to be there. You are one of the 15 players on the Indian team. So, I tried to stay positive.”Whenever I was frustrated, I thought about what I could improve on. Whether it was my fitness, batting, or bowling, I always focused on getting better. Whenever I got a chance to play for the Indian team, I performed well, and I’m very happy about that. I never shied away from hard work.”Mishra finishes with 535 wickets in 152 first-class matches, 252 wickets in 152 List A games, and 285 wickets in 259 T20s. He also scored a double-century in first-class cricket – an unbeaten 202 against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy in December 2012.