Amit Mishra says Kohli and Kumble promised him an India return, then went silent

Amit Mishra has given his account of why his India career stopped in early 2017. The former leg-spinner says he was assured of a way back into the side, and that the assurance was never honoured.

Mishra, now 43, spoke in a long conversation with former India opener Aakash Chopra. He retired from all forms of cricket in September 2025. His claim is that the matter was left unresolved while he was still an active international player.

According to Mishra's version, he was injured while India were playing at home during the 2016-17 season. As he left the squad, then head coach Anil Kumble told him not to worry. Kumble said he would return once he was fit. When Virat Kohli took over as captain, Mishra says he asked him what he needed to do. Kohli reportedly told him to concentrate on getting fully fit and that his place would be there.

Mishra says he finished his rehabilitation and approached Kohli again. This time Kohli asked him to wait for roughly a week to ten days for an answer. That answer never came. Mishra says a week became two and then three, with no update. He says his messages and calls went unanswered, and that he eventually understood he would not be recalled. He also says players injured on national duty were usually brought back automatically, and that he was an exception.

These are Mishra's claims alone. No response from Kohli or Kumble has been confirmed, so the story is incomplete.

**The timing makes the claim sting**

Mishra's last stretch in the India side was productive. Between October 2016 and February 2017 he played in all three formats. His final ODI was against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam, where he took a five-wicket haul and won the player of the match award. New Zealand were bowled out for just 79 chasing 270. His last international appearance came in a T20I against England in Bengaluru in February 2017, where he took 1 for 23.

His numbers by then were 76 Test wickets, 64 in ODIs and 16 in T20Is. In the years that followed he kept playing in the IPL and said publicly that he hoped for another India call. In 2020, at 37, he said he was not playing just for the IPL and wanted to be ready if India came calling.

**Why the door stayed shut**

Mishra's comeback was always going to be difficult. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dominated the spin slots in Tests and often in limited-overs cricket. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav then arrived as the preferred wrist-spinners in white-ball cricket. Mishra, who was already past 33 when the 2016 series against New Zealand ended, was competing with a younger pool for very few places.

That context does not settle his complaint, which is about communication rather than selection. Even if he was never going to displace the established spinners, he says he was owed a straight answer. He describes unanswered calls and an open-ended wait as a poor way to treat a senior player.

**What it means for Indian cricket**

The episode revives an old debate about how teams handle players on the fringes. Selection decisions are rarely explained to players, especially veterans who are being phased out. Players on the edge of the squad usually learn their fate through the team sheet. Mishra's account suggests they can also learn it through silence.

Whether Kohli or Kumble respond will decide how far the story goes. For now it is a retired spinner's recollection of a promise he believes was broken, from a period when he was bowling well for India.