Abhimanyu has ace up his sleeve Meerut:
To continue with my earlier post on the exciting Mithun. Just read the below reviews from various quarters about his performance and talent and his own words too. My surmise is that we have a serious talent here.
Abhimanyu has ace up his sleeve Meerut:
To suggest that Wednesday offered a sneak preview into the future might be a huge exaggeration, but if Abhimanyu Mithun continues to progress at the same spectacular pace of the last three years, the sky could be the limit for the paceman from Bangalore.
The 20-year-old arrived in Meerut for Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy season-opener against Uttar Pradesh not so much in a blaze of publicity but with rave reviews from some of the modern-day giants of Karnataka cricket.
In the space of one afternoon, he justified the expectations of his illustrious City-mates, the likes of Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, with one of the more memorable exhibitions of fast bowling in domestic cricket in recent times.
On a surface with a little bit of assistance, Mithun worked up tremendous pace, showed enough intelligence and maturity in sizing up weaknesses of rival batsmen, and displayed the skills required to home in on those weaknesses with the practised ease of a veteran.
It wasn’t merely the fact that he picked up five for 63 in his first bowl in first-class cricket that was eye-catching. The entire package has “class” written all over it, a package that needs careful nurturing and mature handling if he is to do justice to his unquestioned talent.
Standing at first slip for a majority of the time when Mithun was working the batsmen over, Dravid couldn’t but have reflected on the past, when another tearaway from Karnataka, Javagal Srinath, was making waves at the domestic level.
As ball after ball thudded into wicket-keeper Thilak Naidu’s gloves, Dravid would have allowed himself a quiet smile or two, satisfied that his faith in the young lad had been vindicated.
Srinath went on to establish himself as India’s second most successful medium-pacer behind Kapil Dev; Mithun’s journey has just begun, and whilst whatever he dished out on Wednesday was commendable, the temptation to draw comparisons with his predecessor from Mysore must be resisted.
Steady climb
Mithun’s initiation into cricket began just three years back, as a 17-year-old PU student. To have climbed the charts in such a short span of time in such stunning fashion is indicative of his talent and his willingness to work hard.
This Abhimanyu has broken through the chakravyuha successfully; how he handles the rest of the battle is the million-dollar question only he, and time, can answer.
“But unlike any other match before, Mithun said that he was nervous when the ball was tossed in his direction on Day Two of his Ranji Trophy debut. “‘When the team was picked I was told I will play in all the matches. When the ball was thrown in my direction I was nervous. But I settled down and concentrated on bowling quick.”
Even the opposition camp is raving about his pace and penetration. Former UP pacer and now part of the team’s support staff, Ashish Winston Zaidi had a lot of praise for the youngster, even though his team ended on the wrong side of the bargain. “I am really happy for him. It’s not a joke to take 11 wickets in your first match and that too against a good UP side. He’s got raw pace and has a very good bouncer,” Zaidi said.
