Former Indian spinner Amit Mishra has sensationally revealed that he hid his real age for a year after struggling to get a chance in the state team.
The veteran bowler spoke about the issue of age-baiting while recounting the funny incident between him and Rohit Sharma during this year’s IPL. A video of Rohit teasing the bowler about his age had gone viral on social media.
Rohit asked Amit Mishra about his age and the latter revealed that he was 40 years old. However, the Indian captain was shocked with the answer as he could not believe that the veteran bowler was just three years older than him. Expressing his surprise, Rohit said, “What 40? You are 3 years older than me?”
“You made your debut when we were still in diapers. That’s when you made your debut. Were you 20 years old?” Rohit added before Amit Mishra replied, “Yes. Between 20 and 21 years old.”
Recalling the light-hearted conversation with Rohit, Amit Mishra cheekily said what would have happened if he had decided to ask Rohit about his age as well, hinting that the batting star might also be older than his actual age.
“If he had asked me if I was 37, what would have happened? But I thought, okay, we were joking and he joked with me. And that’s how it happens with me, joking with him. This has been going on for a long time, not just today,” Amit Mishra said while speaking on Shubhankar Mishra podcast.
Amit Mishra reveals his real age:
Speaking further, Amit Mishra revealed that he was not 20 or 21, but 22 years old when he made his debut for Team India. He also revealed that his coach was responsible for the age difference. He also spoke about the whole story related to the age issue.
“Let me tell you, I have a year difference and my coach helped me with that. I didn’t even know about it. The coach called my house and asked me for one more year. It was quite an emotional story. I was surprised and asked him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘From today you are one year younger; now you are two years older.’ I agreed,” Mishra said.
The podcast host then quickly told Mishra about Rohit’s comment where he had said, “You made your debut when we were in diapers.”
In response, Mishra said, “It’s not diapers, but he said when we were young. I told him, ‘I also saw someone playing when I was young’. A lot of people start playing at a young age; it doesn’t mean they are 45 or 50 years old now. He laughed and said, ‘I am 37 years old’. I later confirmed it and asked him, ‘Are you really 37 years old?’ He laughed and didn’t say anything.”
Mishra was part of the Lucknow Super Giants squad for IPL 2024 but did not get too many opportunities. He managed to play just one match this season.
