Delhi have shown excellent form in the Indian T20 League this season, having already won four out of the five matches they have played so far. They look like an unstoppable force right now but they have encountered a little setback as Amit Mishra, one of their most experienced bowlers, has been ruled out of the entire season due to an injury.
Mishra injured his finger while fielding off his own bowling in their fourth match of the season against Kolkata. Until then, he had picked up three wickets in the season at a decent economy rate of 7.20. The veteran spinner is one of the top wicket-takers in the Indian T20 League history with a total of 160 wickets to his name in 150 games. So replacing such an experienced campaigner is going to be quite an arduous task for Delhi. But here we shall take a look at three players Delhi might opt for replacing him.
Sudhesan Midhun
The 25-year-old leg-spinner from Kerala is nowhere near Mishra in terms of experience but he definitely has talent and potential. Midhun played for Rajasthan last season but went for 27 runs in just two overs on his debut. He didn't get any game after that and was released by the franchise ahead of the 2020 auctions.
However, he does have a pretty good record in the limited number of T20s he has played so far. Midhun registered his best bowling figures of 4 for 5 against Manipur in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last year and he has picked up a total of 14 wickets in an equal number of matches at an excellent economy rate of 6.62. That sums up how he is not only adept at picking up wickets but equally good at containing the batsmen too. These are skills we can associate Mishra with.
Shams Mulani
The 23-year-old from Mumbai isn't a leg-spinner but his overall qualities can definitely strengthen Delhi's bench. Mulani is mainly a left-arm orthodox spinner who can do the power-hitting job with the bat as well.
The youngster has played 10 first-class, 24 List-A and 22 T20 matches so far, and proved his mettle with a total of seven fifties and 86 wickets across all three formats combined. In T20s alone, Mulani has registered 20 wickets at a mean economy rate of 6.28 and has one fifty to his name with the bat as well. Even though he isn't a like-for-like replacement for Mishra, his acquisition does provide a good cover for Axar Patel.
Praveen Dubey
The 27-year-old Karnataka leg-spinner is another bowler Delhi can opt for. Dubey had been a part of the Bengaluru-based franchise until the 2019 edition of the league but went unsold last year. However, he is in the UAE right now as one of the net bowlers for Bengaluru.
Moreover, Dubey has a pretty good T20 record to his name as well. He has taken a total of 16 wickets so far in just 14 T20 matches and an economy rate of 6.87 suggests that he is pretty disciplined with his line and lengths too. He is a decent lower-order batsman as well and all these qualities make him the best out of these candidates to take Mishra's place.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter.com / @KPLKSCA
