On September 4, 2025, former Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra announced his retirement from cricket.
Amit Mishra announces retirement
Between 2003 and 2017, Mishra played 22 Tests, 36 ODIs, and 10 T20Is for India. He debuted in ODIs first, in the TVS Cup in Bangladesh shortly after the 2003 World Cup, but did not play international cricket for the next five years.
When he returned, it was in Test cricket, when Indian captain Anil Kumble missed the Mohali Test of 2008/09 against Australia. Mishra picked up 5-71 and 2-35 on debut to help India win by 320 runs. The first-innings spell remained his only five-wicket haul in Test cricket (and the last by any Indian leg-spinner in the format). His 76 Test wickets came at 35.72 apiece.
In ODIs, his 64 wickets came at 23.60. These included two five-wicket hauls in ODIs – 6-48 against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo (the best figures for an Indian in the country) and 5-18 against New Zealand at Visakhapatnam in 2016/17, his last ODI. There were also 16 T20I wickets at 15 apiece.
Mishra’s 174 wickets (across four franchises) are the eighth-most in IPL history and the fifth-most among spinners. He is the only one with three hat-tricks in the tournament. He is also the only spinner with a hat-trick in each of the three formats.
Apart from his four Test fifties (all of which were, incidentally, outside India), he was also involved in a famous Ranji Trophy partnership when he scored 202 not out, his only first-class hundred, against Karnataka at Hubli in 2012/13. He put on 392 with Jayant Yadav, the highest eighth-wicket stand since the First World War and the second-highest of all time.
Mishra announced his retirement from cricket on social media, acknowledging that the sport had been “my first love, my teacher, and my greatest source of joy.” He assured that he looked forward to “giving back to the game that made me who I am”.
