Amit Mishra casts a spell
Gopal Sharma

Amit Mishra is the sixth bowler from India to capture five wickets on his Test debut Photo Reuters

Unflappable. That’s the quality that sets Amit Mishra apart. Overlooked for years despite being consistent in the domestic cricket, murmurs of lack of quality in domestic cricket notwithstanding, Mishra just kept going. He was chosen for the West Indies tour in 2002 and then for the 2003 tri-series in Dhaka when the regulars were rested after the World Cup, but he didn’t leave a mark and was thrust into oblivion soon thereafter.

But Mishra was not disheartened and did not lose his passion for the game. Years of hard work and trying to prove himeself as well as his ability to keep a clear mind made the Haryana leg-spinner a better bowler. This was also the time when Mishra worked hard on his bowling — introducing variations, seeking advice from the seniors, adding variety to his arsenal.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) turned out to be the turning point in his career. Bowling with guile and control, Mishra made everyone sit up and take notice of his craft. Impressive right from the start, his crowning glory came when, playing for Delhi Daredevils, he clinched a hat-trick, (second in the tournament), against Deccan Chargers.

What makes Mishra so effective that he is not afraid to be hit. He is not scared of giving flight to the ball. Mishra, bowling a slow pace, lures the batsmen out of the crease and to their doom. Years of hard work have given the stocky spinner the ability to land the ball wherever he wants. The accuracy and the fizz the ball gets after landing that makes Mishra a tough customer to deal with.

In the second Test at Mohali, Mishra was easily the pick of the bowlers in the first innings. Revelling on the pitch, which had never been a spinner’s ally, Mishra succeeded where bigger names proved ineffective.

Not perturbed by the reputation of his rivals, Mishra struck rhythm straightway. That he was playing at the mighty Aussies did not ruffle Mishra. “I tried to play my natural game. My aim was to take a wicket on every ball and that helped me to concentrate. I tried to use a lot of variation and trouble the batsmen,” Mishra revealed after completing his five-wicket haul on the debut.

“The five years (after he was overlooked for selection after the West Indies tour) were difficult,” said Mishra, adding “But I gained a lot of experience during the period. It was good.”

In the second innings too, it was again Mishra, who polished off the Australian tail, sending back Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clark in a jiffy to signal a comprehensive victory for India. As for Mishra, he finished with a satisfying match haul of 106 for 7.

“Amit is different from others. He is very slow and flights the ball. Not quick in the air you have to be very careful in shot selection and you have to use your feet against him. As he keeps on playing he would learn more. Use of slider rather than his leg-spin all the time and a more frequent use of googly will make him more dangerous bowler,” Dhoni said after the convincing Indian win.

Incidentally, it was Narinder Hirwani’s first match as a selector that also turned out to be the match in which Mishra, playing in his first Test, completed a five-wicket haul. Hirwani also had his moment under the sun on the debut, when he bamboozled the West Indies in the Madras Test in 1987-88. As a 19-year-old, he took 16 wickets on his debut, eight in each innings. Mishra stated he had been in touch with Hirwani even before Hirwani took over as a selector, adding that the tips given by the former India leggie always stood him in good stead.

Mishra idolises the legendary Shane Warne. At times, the shades of resemblance between the bowling styles of the two are there to see. “I got the opportunity to get in touch with Warne, captain of Rajasthan Royals, during the Indian Premier League matches earlier this year. The interaction with the champion spinner has been very fruitful,” Mishra revealed.

With Anil Kumble at the fag end of his career, Mishra has proved that the spinners’ cupboard is not empty anymore, now there is a ready option available.

In the big league

Mishra, with outstanding figures in the match against Australia at Mohali (5 for 71) became the sixth bowler from India to capture five wickets on his Test debut. The previous five Indian bowlers to bag five wickets or more in their debut Test innings were - Mohammad Nissar (5/93 against England at Lord’s in 1932), Vaman Kumar (5/64 against Pakistan at Delhi in 1960-61), Abid Ali (6/55 against Australia at Adelaide in 1967-68), Dilip Doshi (6/103 against Australia at Chennai in 1979-80) and Narendra Hirwani (8/61 against West Indies at Chennai in 1987-88). Nissar and Abid Ali are the only bowlers to achieve the feat abroad.

Winger with a flair
Vaibhav Sharma

Modern day football is about flair. The way you dangle and mesmerize defenders, with speed skill, ball control and feign a pass, play the perfect cross. In short, it’s a wingers game.

So when you hear the roar as JCT’s Baljit Sahni walks on to the field, you know why he is the club’s blue-eyed boy. The Mahilpur boy, who started with the JCT academy, has made the left wing position at the club his own. At just 21 years of age, the young boy is taking some giant strides.

A Cristiano Ronaldo fan, he has tried to model his game on the enigmatic Manchester United winger. He cuts in from the left and at times looks to be more like a support striker than a winger. His strength is his speed and his ability to charge at defenders with supreme confidence, knowing that he can always slip the ball between their legs and then beat them while chasing it too.

You can see shades of what lies ahead of him as he kicks the ball away from the field and then makes a blind dash for it, leaving the rest of the pack behind, humbled and dusted.

Talking to The Tribune, Baljit talks about how football has had the most significant impact on his life. “My family always expected something special from me. My cousin and uncle have played for JCT, so it has been my favourite club ever since I was a kid. It’s been a privilege to play this game. I am still learning, but I know that I am in the right place and am ready to do what it takes to excel. I cannot be just another football player. The game has taught me the way to toil, and then make it count too.”

His pace is natural and he definitely is one of the fastest wingers on the scene. He also is a fantastic dribbler, and can beat the best of defenders, with some trickery on the ball. “I love running. I just find the challenge to compete for a ball with a defender the most enthralling part of playing football. Scoring too is fun, but the run, the build up, that’s what actually football is all about.”

He is generating a lot of interest among other clubs around the country as well and the Mahindra United coach had openly admitted after the game against JCT, that Baljit would be one to scout for in the coming months. Ask him about his future and he says with the utmost modesty, “I love it when people like my game, but I am at JCT, and to me it is an honour. My job is not to predict the future, it is to play football in the best possible way. My only dream is to one day play for the Indian national team, and I know that if I keep putting in the hard work, the reward won’t take long to follow.”

Ready to return
Amanpreet Singh

Forced to stay away from courts for almost half the season, a fit again Sania Mirza is eyeing a comeback at January’s Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong and revealed that she almost sunk into depression while struggling to recover from a wrist injury.

The Indian ace is out of action since Beijing Olympics, where her wrist injury flared up again and she had to concede her first round singles match. Sharing the trauma she faced when she ran out of options to get her wrist healed, she said it was difficult to cope with the situation at that time.

“It was scary. It was career threatening. I was almost going through depression. I think the post-injury period is more difficult to cope with and I am happy to be back. But I never doubted that I cannot make a comeback ,” Sania said.

Sania said she was keen to make a comeback but was not in a hurry. She confirmed that she will play a team tournament in Hong Kong in January before resuming her Tour activities. “It is a big honour to represent Asia. It is great to be a part of such a large field, where you have players like (Jelena) Jankovic and (Maria) Sharapova. But we still have two-and-a-half months to go and it is very long period in tennis,” she said after spending about an hour on the DLTA courts, practicing with Radhika Tulpule. Talking about the next season, she said she was approaching it cautiously.

“I don’t want to jump the gun. I want to take it day by day. If tomorrow it hurts again, I have to take rest again. But now it is good I am not feeling any pain while hitting. I am back to my routine. And it's great to be back,” Sania said.

Australian physiotherapist Amir Takla and many others suggested a surgery for healing the injured wrist and then on the recommendation of Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, Sania consulted Jatin Choudhry, who by applying spiral therapy healed her injury in a very short period.

“It is great blessing. I am lucky to find somebody like Jatin. He came and did a miracle,” Sania said. “A lot of people thought that I needed another surgery to heal and said it was the only option. There were countless MRIs and I was running around hospitals. So, it is really miraculous to have it healed like this.” — PTI