‘If he was not there, I would not have even been in the team’ – Amit Mishra quashes rumours of rift with MS Dhoni

Amit Mishra and MS Dhoni. (Source: X/Amit Mishra)

Former Indian cricketer Amit Mishra has rubbished the rumours of a rift former India captain MS Dhoni. Mishra, who last played for India in 2017, put an end to the speculations and stressed that Dhoni believed in his abilities, which is why he kept making comeback after comeback under the wicketkeeper-batter’s captaincy.

“People say if Dhoni was not there, my career would have been better. But who knows, if he was not there, maybe I would not have even been in the team. I came into the side under him only. And I kept making a comeback. He would have agreed as a captain and that is why I kept coming back. There is a positive way to look at things,” shared Mishra in a video on MensXP’s YouTube channel.

The attacking leg-spinner revealed that Dhoni’s motivational words during an ODI in October 2016 helped boost his performance. Mishra also said that Dhoni’s advice came as a blessing for him in his final ODI series.

“Whenever I was in the XI, it was never as if Dhoni didn’t come to me and give me tips. I was playing against New Zealand, which was my last ODI series. Dhoni was the captain. It was a tight game. I came to bowl and we had scored 269 runs. I thought of stopping the flow of runs and not going for wickets. After two overs, Dhoni came to me and told me that I wasn’t bowling what I naturally bowl. He told me not to think a lot and bowl what I always do. I did that and got a wicket. It was a game-changing spell. I picked up five wickets and I think that was my best spell. This is how he supported me,” he added.

Mishra, who played 22 Tests, 36 ODIs and 10 T20Is, announced his retirement from all forms of competitive cricket in September earlier this year. His last match for India was a T20I against England in Bengaluru. He registered impressive figures of 1/23 in four overs.

The 43-year-old is considered one of the greatest bowlers to have played the Indian Premier League. He finished with 174 wickets in 162 matches at an economy rate of 7.37.

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