New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS): Sushant Mishra turns 23 on Saturday, but his birthday present arrived last week. On December 19, when his name went up on the screen at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai during the IPL Auction, Mishra was seeing the proceedings with his friend at the terrace of his residence in Ranchi.

He didn’t see the action once Mumbai Indians raised the bid for him, but managed to catch the end, where Gujarat Titans staved off the challenge from the five-time championship winning team to pick Mishra for a life-changing INR 2.2 crore.

“Though it was cold at the terrace, we weren’t watching in the room as it was too claustrophobic for us. But when Mumbai Indians first raised the bid for me as soon as my name came in, seeing that made me feel happy that at least I will be picked.”

“I didn’t see the auction war after that, but managed to catch at the end that Gujarat Titans took me in. Once the bidding war was over, I came down and my mother was crying (out of happiness),” says Mishra in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Mishra had attended the trials of almost all IPL franchises, but missed out on attending the one organised by Gujarat due to him busy with Jharkhand’s campaign at the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Jaipur earlier this month. Ironically, it is Gujarat, the side whose trials he missed, that Mishra will be representing in IPL 2024.

“Seeing the fight at the auction between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans for me, I felt really good that I could be going to either of these champion teams. Both Mumbai and Gujarat have a very strong core and have really good coaching staff too. With Gujarat’s recent form being so good, it feels very great that I am going to a team like that for IPL 2024,” he adds.

Mishra’s previous IPL experiences have been as a net bowler with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and as a replacement player for Saurabh Dubey at the Sunrisers Hyderabad dugout last year. The ability to execute skillsets in pressure situations at the Hyderabad camp has made him more assured of performing well in tough scenarios if he gets a chance to take the field in IPL 2024.

“From the early experiences of being in the IPL, what I learnt was how pressure is there in the matches and the many ways by which one can practice to enhance their skill and execute it well in pressure situations. I saw that there was a lot of practice and focus put on skills like that and I got to go through it when at SRH. All of that has made me confident of doing well whenever I get a chance in the tournament.”

Growing up, Mishra was sure of playing cricket professionally, though his family wasn’t serious about his cricketing ambitions till he entered the Jharkhand U16 state team. “The day when I told my father to get me enrolled in the academy (Argora Cricket Academy, Ranchi), that’s when I decided that I will make a career out of playing cricket.”

“When I was picked for the U16 state team, that’s when the family got serious too. The support has always been there from my father right from childhood, but I had to insist him a little for me going to the academy. My mother and grandparents got fully convinced when I got to play at the state level and they have been ever supportive of me since then.”

Soon, Mishra made his mark as a teenager in India’s squad for the 2020 Men’s U19 World Cup in South Africa, picking seven wickets in five matches at an average of 19.85 and economy rate of 4.45. He formed a good fast-bowling partnership with Kartik Tyagi in the tournament where India finished as runners-up, and co-incidentally, the duo will be together in the Gujarat camp in IPL 2024.

Immediately after, Covid-19 struck and cricket came to a halt. But once it resumed, Mishra transitioned towards senior cricket for Jharkhand, debuting in List A, first-class in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The transition from U19 to senior cricket has been smooth for him, so far.

“U19 cricket is a small age-group as almost all the people in my team and in the opposition are of the same age as you and don’t have much experience. But when you transition towards senior cricket, then you become the one who has the least experience amongst others.”

“Plus, there are people whose playing careers are more than 19 or 20 years, which is literally a youngster’s age when entering a team. Playing alongside them and learning from their vast experiences as quickly as possible, especially if you are making a mistake, and then recovering from it have been the best lessons for me,” he adds.

There has been essential learning for him on dealing with injuries in senior cricket. “Injuries are a part of the game and the focus was on the recovery process. The aim was that whenever I get the next chance to play, my body should be fine and I should be mentally ready. I never used to think that this is my time-off; I always thought that I have got a good time and look to utilise it well via following the right process and strive to be in my best shape.”

His T20 debut came this year and though the sample size is seven scalps in four games, Mishra’s smooth action, coupled with the ability to bowl with the new ball, hit the deck if needed, and surprise the batters with skiddy bounce, as well as improve his death overs bowling and slip yorkers at will is an ideal skillset to have as a young fast-bowler in the Gujarat camp.

Mishra idolises the legendary Zaheer Khan, Jasprit Bumrah and is currently in awe of now-Gujarat team-mate Mohammed Shami’s scintillating performance in this year’s ODI World Cup, where he became the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps.

“Zaheer Khan sir has been my idol in left-arm fast-bowling. I have seen so much of his bowling spells that it has always left me speechless. Seeing Shami bhai’s recent performance in the World Cup, I am starting to feel like that bowling should happen this way – take wickets in heaps in every game.”

December 19 wasn’t limited to being just a big payday for Mishra – his Jharkhand team-mate, wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra was snapped by Delhi Capitals for INR 7.2 crore. Another team-mate from Jharkhand, wicketkeeper-batter Robin Minz was roped in by Gujarat for INR 3.6 crore.

“Kushagra is my room partner whenever we are playing domestic tournaments. The two of us had a lot of chat before the auction, as we were nervous about it. The feeling was, ‘auction aa raha hai, bhai kya hoga, kya nahi hoga’ (Auction is coming, what will happen, what may not happen). But we both got picked and met in the night post the auction. We kept our phones aside and went for dinner. We both were very happy that day.”

“I have met Robin just recently. Robin was at U19 and by then, we had come to the senior level. This year is the first time I met Robin and he’s a really good guy. That day, I also congratulated him and everyone was happy. I had been with Robin to England (on a developmental tour with Reliance cricket team),” he adds.

Mishra’s immediate focus is to do well for Jharkhand in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. “We have been playing practice matches with the red-ball in preparation for the Ranji Trophy. The preparation has been going on very well as one has to give time for making the transition from white-ball to red-ball games.”

“If I were to see my current run in this domestic season, it has gone well, but still not satisfied. I mean, I can’t be satisfied at all, but I am putting in the hard yards to do well and pick as many wickets as possible in Ranji Trophy and help the team win the title.”

Apart from cricket, Mishra attempts to take out some time for completing his sociology degree from Sharda University. “I try my best to study well ahead of exams as cricket takes a lot of time. But I do strike a balance as I get good marks.”

Mishra is currently managed by Square The One and is grateful to them for off-field help. “Shiv (Dhawan, the founder) bhai is always ready to help and replies immediately with an answer. Whatever things are needed, he is very quick to help and get it done for me. They have been very supportive of me,” he concluded.