Amit Mishra spent a lot of time on the sidelines before getting the opportunity to play for India again.
In the Asia Cup earlier this month, he played his first international game in five months against Pakistan and took two wickets for 28 runs, before returning 1 for 21 in the match against Afghanistan.
On Friday, the leg-spinner was handed another opportunity to perform on the big stage.
Even though he went for runs in the two warm-up matches against Sri Lanka and England, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to persist with him. And he delivered, playing a vital role in India's convincing seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in their opening match of the World T20, in Mirpur.
On a pitch that offered the spinners a lot of assistance, Mishra made sure he focussed on bowling in the right areas and reaped rich reward, finishing with excellent figures of one for 22 in four overs, including a maiden.
He struck in his second over, the ninth of the innings, with the key wicket of Ahmed Shehzad, who was threatening to cut loose. He beat the batsman, who was going strong on 22 from 17 balls, in flight and had him stumped.
In the company of Ravindra Jadeja (1 for 18), Mishra mounted pressure on the Pakistan batsmen in the middle overs and forced them into committing mistakes.
Shoaib Malik looked to target him and clobbered a six over long-off, but perished playing that same shot in the bowler’s next over.
Pakistan managed just 34 runs in the last five overs and ended up with a below-par total of 130 for seven.
India's strong batting line-up did not have any problems in chasing down the runs, finishing with nine deliveries to spare.
Image: Amit Mishra
Photograph: BCCI
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