IPL 2021, DC vs MI: Ahead of the IPL 2021 Auctions, when Delhi Capitals decided to retain 38-year-old Amit Mishra, many raised eyebrows. Many considered him old for the T20 format, despite returning with three wickets from IPL 2020 in three matches. On Tuesday, against Mumbai Indians, the veteran leg-spinner proved his doubters wrong once again. His 4/24 in four overs left Mumbai struggling at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. With that, he also achieved the feat of most four-wicket hauls by any Indian bowler. With four 4-wicket hauls, he is behind Sunil Narine and Lasith Malinga on the list.
Rishabh Pant’s decision to stick with Amit Mishra despite no success against Chennai Super Kings and going for 27 runs in 3 overs would not have boosted any Delhi Capitals fans’ confidence. But Amit Mishra’s experience did the talking once again.
First, after getting thrashed by Rohit Sharma, he dismissed him on the 10th ball. It was 7th time that Amit Mishra scalped Rohit Sharma’s wicket in 17 innings, making him a bunny of sort. Then, using the turn on the Chepauk wicket, Mishra sent Hardik Pandya back for a first-ball duck as the all-rounder tried to take on the leg-spinner from the first ball.
Soon, another power-hitter Kieron Pollard fell cheaply. He too tried to take on Mishra and misjudged the turn, getting trapped leg before. His 4th victim was young Ishan Kishan who was bowled out by the veteran. By that, he completed 4th four-wicket hauls, most by any Indian bowlers in the tournament’s 14-year history.
IPL 2021, DC vs MI: Amit Mishra 7 wickets away to surpass Lasith Malinga for most wickets in IPL
However, it is not the first time that Amit Mishra has surprised with his turns. In 14 editions of IPL, Mishra has played every time, managing a rich haul of 163 wickets in 152 matches. His best campaign was in IPL 2013 when he bagged 21 wickets in 17 matches with an impressive economy of 6.35 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Amit Mishra IPL record:
Matches: 152
Wickets: 163
Best bowling figure: 5/17
Average: 24.03
Economy rate: 7.35
4-wicket hauls: 4
5-wicket hauls: 1
Hat-tricks: 3
| POS | PLAYER | Mat | Inns | Ovs | Wkts | BBI | Avg | Econ | 4w | 5w |
| 1 | Sunil Narine | 120 | 119 | 464 | 127 | 5/19 | 24.77 | 6.77 | 6 | 1 |
| 2 | Lasith Malinga | 122 | 122 | 471 | 170 | 5/13 | 19.8 | 7.14 | 6 | 1 |
| 3 | Amit Mishra | 152 | 152 | 534 | 164 | 5/17 | 23.91 | 7.34 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | Andrew Tye | 27 | 27 | 103 | 40 | 5/17 | 21.8 | 8.46 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | Kagiso Rabada | 38 | 38 | 145 | 65 | 4/21 | 18.49 | 8.28 | 4 | 0 |
Now, he is just 8 wickets away from surpassing legendary Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, who has 170 wickets. And the way Mishra has begun IPL 2021 and turning tracks like Chennai, Mumbai are two venues of the tournament besides Bengaluru, he can very well overtake Malinga this time. Furthermore, he is the only bowler in the IPL with three hat-tricks.
“I always think about the wickets. There was a little bit of holding there and just tried to bowl in the right areas. I feel whenever you bowl in T20s, you just take wickets, then you put the opposition team under pressure. I never change my bowling, I try to bowl to my strengths. I always think about variations not change in pace. Whenever Hardik Pandya comes, I’ll go for a wicket. I just tossed it up, went for the wicket and got it. With the batting attack we have, I think we can chase it but we have to bat smartly. My job is finished, Ricky Ponting’s job will start now,” Amit Mishra told the host broadcaster at the innings break.
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