অভিমন্যু মিঠুন

A fast bowler of pedigree, Mithun shot into prominence by picking up 47 wickets in his very first domestic Ranji season for Karnataka helping them to the finals where they eventually lost to Mumbai.

Born on October 21, 1989, Mithun took seriously to the game only at the age of 17. He spent his formative years attempting to succeed in athletics and discuss throw. His pace impressed the then Karnataka coach, who billed him as one for the future. Rahul Dravid, ace Indian batsman and his captain on debut, praised him for his ability to bowl long and hard spells at good pace. Ray Jennings, his coach at the Royal Challengers Bangalore hailed him as an 'express pace bowler'.

Mithun made a grand entry into the domestic circuit picking 11 wickets against Uttar Pradesh on his debut. This included a second innings hat-trick as well thereby emulating Javagal Srinath's feat in the 1989-90 season. He relied heavily on his pace and can extract good bounce from the wicket. This can be credited to his extensive gym sessions at a gymnasium owned by his father.

An India call-up was not overdue and a long list of injury enforced absences allowed Mithun to debut against Sri Lanka in July 2010. In oppressive conditions and on pitches which offered very little for the fast bowlers, Mithun impressed the selectors and the

team management with his tireless bowling efforts and stodgy batting stints. He ended with figures of 4/105 on his debut at Galle which remains his best effort in a brief career as of now.

It was a surprise when the team management opted for Jaidev Unadkat ahead of him for the South Africa tour in late 2010. Mithun became the benefactor when Zaheer and Sreesanth opted out of the tour to West Indies with injuries. He missed the first Test due to a visa issue but played the second Test at Barbados. He ended with match figures of 3/ 84 but was left out of the next Test at Dominica. He was also not considered for the tour to England.

Mithun played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a home based player and was the only man bought back by the team during the 2011 auctions.

Soon after he travelled with the team to West Indies and played a Test match before being recalled again for the home ODI series against the same opposition in December 2011. However, lack of performances meant, Mithun never represented the country again. Much like any other player, Mithun went back to the domestic circuit and toiled hard.

Though he has the pace, he does not have variations in his bowling and that meant he was not a regular with the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL even though he was with them until 2013. Unfortunately, there were no bidders for him at the 2014 auctions and he went unsold.

He had a fruitful season at the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy as he topped the bowling charts for his side Karnataka with 41 wickets and helped them win the title. However, an entry into the Indian side is not going to be all that easy for him as the current pacers are doing reasonably well.

By Pradeep Krishnamurthy