Former India spinner Amit Mishra played for the Indian team at a time when the rise of MS Dhoni was seen as well. He played 22 Tests, 36 ODIs, and 10 T20Is for India as well. However, he could never cement his place in the playing XI. However, there has been speculation that MS Dhoni did not back Mishra enough, but the veteran spinner has cleared the air on this.

“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 even have been in the team. I came into the team under him only, and I kept making a comeback. He would have agreed as a captain, and that is why I kept coming back. So there is a positive way to look at things,” Mishra said on MensXP.

Amit Mishra also shared MS Dhoni’s guidance and insights, especially in his last ODI series against New Zealand as well.

“I did have the support. Whenever I was in the XI, it was never like Dhoni did not come to me and give me tips or tell me things. He would always tell me things. I was playing against New Zealand, which was my last one-day series. Dhoni was the captain. It was a tight game. I came to bowl, and we had scored 260-270 runs. I thought of stopping the flow of runs and not going for wickets,” he said.

“After a couple of overs, Dhoni came to me and said I was not bowling what I naturally bowl. He told me not to think a lot and bowl what I always do. I did that and then got a wicket. He told me, ‘This is your bowling-bowl exactly this, don’t think a lot.’ It was a game-changing spell. I picked up five wickets, and I think that was also my best spell. His thinking was that if I did not pick wickets, we would lose the game. This is how he supported me,” Amit Mishra concluded.