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 Testand 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."
