Two five-wicket hauls and a hat-trick give Mithun a debut to remember

Abhimanyu Mithun never expected to claim a bagful of wickets on his Ranji Trophy debut....

Abhimanyu Mithun never expected to claim a bagful of wickets on his Ranji Trophy debut. In his own words,a couple of dismissals would have been satisfying enough. After scripting Karnatakas 185-run win over Uttar Pradesh,with a match-haul of 11 wickets which included a hat-trick in the second innings,Mithun was more concerned about how well he had bowled on the final day.

I wasnt bowling well on the fourth day,going over four runs an over. Rahul Dravid sir told me not to worry too much about the runs and just bowl normally. I did that and I got the hat-trick, he told The Indian Express on Friday.

Mithun claimed Tanmay Srivastavas wicket on Day Three before dismissing Piyush Chawla,Amir Khan and RP Singh in successive deliveries on the fourth day. Bhuvneshwar Kumar wicket ended UPs resistance and gave him his second five-wicket haul of the match. Talking about his performance,Mithun added: Its a great feeling to get 11 wickets in my first match. I am happy.

Interestingly,he claims he had clocked 145 kmph while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore during IPLs second season.

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 teams 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. Its not a joke to take 11 wickets in your first match and that too against a good UP side. Hes got raw pace and has a very good bouncer, Zaidi said.

Chasing 438,UP could only manage 252 with Mithun scalping five for 95 for his match haul of 11 wickets in his first class debut. Next,Mithun is up against Delhi,another formidable side,in round two of the tournament. But right now,he is only thinking about how the last four days went for him.

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Brief scores: Karnataka 405 amp; 311 for 5 decl; Uttar Pradesh: 279 amp; 252 all out in B Kumar 63,M Kaif 54; A Mithun 5/95,S Joshi 2/16. Pts: Karnataka 5,UP 0