Hope, skip and jump

Amit Mishra8217;s fingers uncoil from his fist as he counts his India A stints. 8220;There have been four in the last two years.

Amit Mishra8217;s fingers uncoil from his fist as he counts his India A stints. 8220;There have been four in the last two years. Before that, I had been to West Indies once and Sri Lanka once,8221; the leg-spinner8217;s voice trails as he loses count of the number of times he has been on the threshold of the national team.

These days, hope is once again visible in his eyes as he gets ready to face Australia A in a three-day match starting on Wednesday. That8217;s why he can afford to joke about his perennial presence outside the door of the Indian dressing room. 8220;I8217;m a veteran in the India A side now,8221; says the 25-year-old with a grin. Mishra8217;s mood symbolizes the atmosphere at the India A practice session. This is the time of wishful thinking for the anxious fringe players of Indian cricket. 8220;I have a gut feeling that if I perform against Australia A, I8217;ll have a chance to be in the Test team,8221; Mishra says.

With just the Irani Trophy to bank on after the India A series, the second-stringers know its now or never if they want their names discussed when the selection committee meets to pick the Test squad for next month8217;s series against Australia. Mishra8217;s name has figured in several meetings in the past and once again the Haryana bowler is in contention for the third-spinner8217;s spot behind Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. He finished the last domestic season with 46 wickets 8212; the second highest behind Sudeep Tyagi 8212; but such domestic highs have not always translated in a call for national duty.

One big difference this time, however, is that Mishra is fresh in public memory after his Indian Premier League success. When he signed for the Delhi Daredevils, he wasn8217;t seen as someone who would play a big role in the franchise8217;s success. But Mishra proved to be a dark horse and then carried his IPL form to India A8217;s tour of Australia for the Emerging Players8217; Tournament, in which he was the highest wicket-taker.

Ask him if he is scared to dream big after his short-lived stint with the Indian ODI team, and he says: 8220;I remember that after my debut against South Africa, everybody was praising me. Even Sunil Gavaskar said that we8217;ve found Anil Kumble8217;s successor,8221; he says. But things didn8217;t go as planned or predicted. 8220;I really don8217;t know how things changed so suddenly. Everything was going fine but there was a sudden twist in my career.8221;

To make things worse, Mishra sustained an injury that shattered him. 8220;I thought of quitting cricket. I8217;d had enough.8221; 8216;A8217; team players often have to deal with such uncertainty, and Mishra isn8217;t the only hopeful in the fray as a strong India A side take on Australia A at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

The Indians look strong on paper, especially since they have international players such as S Badrinath, Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli and Mohammad Kaif in the line-up.

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The likely absence of Sreesanth, who might sit out with a stiff back could be crucial.

8220;If you look at the list, India A side looks strong. Half of their side has international experience,8221; Simon Katich says. 8220;But don8217;t count us out,8221; added the Australia A skipper.

SQUADS

Australia A: Simon Katich c, Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Marcus North, George Bailey, Peter Forrest, Luke Ronchi wk, Ashley Noffke, Beau Casson, Ryan Harris, Jason Krejza, Peter Siddle, Bryce McGain and Doug Bollinger.

India A: S Badrinath c, Parthiv Patel wk, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Kaif, Cheteshwar Pujara, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, Vinay Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohnish Parwar, Sahil Kukreja and Amit Mishra.