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 Karnataka’s 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 wasn’t 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 Srivastava’s wicket on Day Three before dismissing Piyush Chawla, Amir Khan and RP Singh in successive deliveries on the fourth day. Bhuvneshwar Kumar wicket ended UP’s resistance and gave him his second five-wicket haul of the match. Talking about his performance, Mithun added: “It’s 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 IPL’s 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.”

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