He announced his retirement today.
The 42-year-old Amit Mishra has drawn curtains on his 25-year-long career, announcing retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday. The India leg-spinner cited recurring injuries and a desire to give youngsters a chance in domestic cricket.
“These 25 years of my life in cricket have been nothing short of memorable. I am deeply grateful to the BCCI, the administration, the Haryana Cricket Association, the support staff, my colleagues, and my family members who were with me all this while,” Mishra said, as quoted by IANS.
Amit Mishra’s international career included 22 Tests, 36 ODIs, and 10 T20Is, in which he took 76, 64, and 16 wickets, respectively. He earned his maiden international cap in 2003 during an ODI tri-series in Bangladesh. But he had to wait till 2008 for his Test debut against Australia in Mohali, where he claimed a five-wicket haul.
Mishra made his first appearance in T20Is in 2010 against Zimbabwe in Harare. He represented India in the 2014 T20 World Cup, where he took 10 wickets in six innings at an exceptional economy of 6.68 as India finished runners-up to Sri Lanka.
After his last game for India came in 2017, the leg-spinner continued to play domestic cricket and in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has been a part of the league since its inaugural season and concluded his IPL career as the seventh leading wicket-taker in the tournament’s history. Yuzvendra Chahal tops the list with 221 wickets, followed by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (198), Sunil Narine (192), Piyush Chawla (192), Ravichandran Ashwin (187), Jasprit Bumrah (183), and Dwayne Bravo (183.
| Year | Team | Mat | Wkts | Ave | Eco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | LSG | 1 | 1 | 20.00 | 10.00 |
| 2023 | LSG | 7 | 7 | 21.28 | 7.84 |
| 2021 | DC | 4 | 6 | 18.16 | 7.78 |
| 2020/21 | DC | 3 | 3 | 24.00 | 7.20 |
| 2019 | DC | 11 | 11 | 24.54 | 6.75 |
| 2018 | DC | 10 | 12 | 22.00 | 7.13 |
| 2017 | DC | 14 | 10 | 34.30 | 8.83 |
| 2016 | DC | 14 | 13 | 26.46 | 7.47 |
| 2015 | DC | 12 | 9 | 34.44 | 7.71 |
| 2014 | SRH | 10 | 7 | 48.57 | 9.06 |
| 2013 | SRH | 17 | 21 | 18.76 | 6.35 |
| 2012 | DCH | 14 | 13 | 29.00 | 8.02 |
| 2011 | DCH | 14 | 19 | 18.84 | 6.71 |
| 2009/10 | DC | 14 | 17 | 21.35 | 6.84 |
| 2009 | DC | 11 | 14 | 21.00 | 7.00 |
| 2007/08 | DC | 6 | 11 | 12.54 | 6.90 |
Mishra ended his career with 174 wickets in 162 matches, averaging 23.82 and an economy rate of 7.37. He remains the only bowler to take three hat-tricks in IPL history, against Deccan Chargers (5/17) in 2008, Kings XI Punjab (4/9) (now Punjab Kings) in 2011, and Pune Warriors India (4/19) in 2013.
| Player Name | Wickets Taken in IPL History |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 221 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 198 |
| Sunil Narine | 192 |
| Piyush Chawla | 192 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 187 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 183 |
| DJ Bravo | 183 |
| Amit Mishra | 174 |
Mishra ended his cricketing career as an IPL legend, having featured in 16 out of 18 seasons. During his journey, the leggie has represented four different franchises. Mishra was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) to play in the inaugural season, where he shone with 14 wickets in 11 matches, including a hat-trick against the Deccan Chargers.
He represented the Deccan Chargers for two seasons, from 2011 to 2012, during which he took 32 wickets in 28 matches. Later, he went on to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad for a couple of seasons. Mishra produced his best-ever IPL season in 2013, taking 21 wickets in 17 matches at an impressive economy of 6.35, including a hat-trick against Pune Warriors India.
Mishra again shifted his base to his former franchise, Delhi Capitals, where he stayed for seven seasons. While he played at least 10 matches per season from 2015 to 2019, he was sidelined in the last two, playing just seven matches, where he took nine wickets. Lucknow Super Giants remained his last IPL franchise, featuring in seven and one match each in the 2023 and 2024 IPL seasons.
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While the spinners have started to bowl with a flatter trajectory and speed, Mishra came from a breed of players who used flight and pace variations to their best advantage. He remains the only bowler to take three hat-tricks and has four four-wicket hauls and a fifer. His batting credentials were also quite good, having a double hundred in first-class cricket to his name.
Though he is not the most celebrated spinner in the IPL, Amit Mishra remains the most underrated spinner. With ever-evolving T20 cricket, franchises had started to focus on T20 specialist spinners and spin-bowling all-rounders; Mishra, being a traditional leg-spinner, was slightly backstaged with the times.
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