People say if MS Dhoni was not there, my career would have been better: Amit Mishra

Former Indian spinner Amit Mishra, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in early September 2025, has clarified his stance on MS Dhoni not supporting him during his playing days.

While speaking exclusively to MensXP, Mishra, who went on to play 22 Tests, 36 ODIs, and 10 T20Is, has revealed that if MS Dhoni weren’t part of the Indian team, he wouldn’t even have made his India debut.

"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.

Furthermore, Mishra went on to disclose that Dhoni always guided with his insights during his playing days, adding that he received a lot of support during his last ODI against New Zealand as he went on to scalp a match-winning five-wicket haul.

"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,” he concluded. 

Mishra last played professional cricket in IPL 2024 for the Lucknow Super Giants, scalping a wicket against the Rajasthan Royals in Lucknow.

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