Former India cricketer Amit Mishra has revealed that he battled depression during the early years of his career. Shortly after making his ODI debut in 2003, the leg-spinner found himself out of the Indian team. It was at this point, Mishra revealed, that he entered a dark chapter. In a candid interaction with former India opener and reputed commentator Aakash Chopra, Mishra shared that he went through this desolate phase for more than a year. During this time, he had no one to turn to.
“I went into depression for a year and a half. I kept thinking about what my mistake was. I was playing everywhere, but the only question in my mind was that, ‘what did I do wrong?’,” said Mishra.
From the high of making his India debut, Mishra’s career went downhill in the next few years as he found himself out of domestic teams too, and also ended up hitting a rut of bad form.
“I had played for India but got dropped. Then I was not in the Duleep Trophy. I was not in the India A team for zonals. I could not understand what was happening with me. One season went badly.
“Then a selector told me that I was not performing. sat down and thought, and I understood that I was thinking of playing for India itself but not performing in domestic cricket,” Mishra stated.
In an honest revelation, Mishra further revealed that he did not have anyone with whom he could talk to at that moment. He shared that he could not tell his family as they’d get even more worried.
“I had nobody to talk to during my bad time, to be honest. I could not tell my family either. I could not discuss these things with anyone. I was on my own. But I realised that until I perform, things would not work. I was told to work on batting as well, and I did that too. I did decently well in one season, then I was picked for the Duleep Trophy. Then I realised this is how things will work. I had no godfather, so I knew I had to keep proving myself. Even my coach had told me this,” Mishra said.
Mishra ultimately made his comeback into the Indian team in October 2008, making his Test debut against Australia. He went on to represent India in 22 Tests, 36 ODIs and 10 T20Is.
The leg-spinner is also one of the most successful bowlers in Indian Premier League (IPL) history, with 174 wickets in 162 games. He is the only player to take three hattricks in the IPL.
