Abhimanyu has played an invaluable role for India in the second test, but more importantly he has raised hopes of filling the vital all-rounder's slot
Abhimanyu has played an invaluable role for India in the second test, but more importantly he has raised hopes of filling the vital all-rounder's slot
No one would tell former Karnataka discus thrower Abhimanyu Mithun to go back to athletics as there is now a gold medal to be won at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
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Not while he has an opportunity to become the next Kapil Dev. Okay, that is perhaps too ambitious a thought at this stage of his career, as India has had only one Kapil Dev and many who would like to be classed in the same category as the man who led India to their 1983 World Cup success. Now approaching 21, the lanky Bangalore new ball bowler and surprise choice as Ishant Sharma's partner to open India's attack on this additional Test tour of the Emerald Isle, has also put more runs on the board than state teammate Rahul Dravid. The Wall has 88 runs from four innings with a top-score of 44, and again not a happy tour record of the island.
Along comes the rookie Mithun whose top score of 46 here at P Sara Oval yesterday, helped India grab a narrow first innings lead in the third Test as he pushed his tour total of runs to 120 and an average of 30.00. Sure, his wicket-taking strike rate hasn't been what you would call Kapil's pace ufffd five at an average of 72.40 ufffd but he has been useful and he is developing as a player on tour.
Ray Jennings, coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore liked what he saw in the youngster and no doubt, apart from Mithun's Ranji record and 47 wickets last season, passed on the message to Gary Kirsten that there was an all-rounder in the making.
It was Kirsten's lament in Galle a few days ago, during the water-logged day of the first Test, how India didn't have all-rounders in the offing.
As Kirsten pointed out, apart from India again discovering a new Kapil or even a Manoj Prabhakar, the current India attack is going to be under pressure.
"We are searching for an all-rounder for the World Cup," he explained.
"We are looking for an all rounder who can come in the top six of the batting order. But we can't have a guy who is bowling say only around the pace of a hundred and fifteen kilometres an hour and is holding up an end.
"What we need is an all-rounder who should be able to make a positive contribution to the team," said Kirsten.
So, up steps Mithun, stitching together a lower-order performance to remember, first it was with the captain, M S Dhoni and then Amit Mishra to add 93 for the seventh and eighth wickets.
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