Twenty years after Javagal Srinath bagged a hat-trick on debut, Abhimanyu Mithun matched his idol and even went a step further

Angshuman Deb Barma. Bangalore,
18th November, 1989, Secunderabad. A 20 year lanky pace bowler from Mysore named Javagal Srinath, making his first class debut, ripped the Hyderabad batting line-up apart with a hat-trick, picking up the wickets of Eteh Shamuddin Ali Khan, M V Ramanamurthy and Rajesh Yadav in successive deliveries. What followed was history.
20 years later, on Friday at the Bhamashah Stadium in Meerut, another fast bowler from the state repeated the same feat by picking up the wickets of Piyush Chawla, Amir Khan and RP Singh in similar fashion.
But while Srinath ended that match with just seven wickets in his kitty, Abhimanyu Mithun who was just 25 days old when Srinath made his first class debut, has made one of the most sensational debuts by a Karnataka pacer, picking up 11 wickets in the match with a fiver in each innings.
Speaking to DNA, on his way from Meerut to Delhi, where Karnataka will face Akash Chopra & Co in their second match, Mithun admitted that he wasn't aware that he had repeated Srinath's feat. "I was told that Srinath had taken a hat-trick on his debut only after the match was over and I returned to the dressing room. I was quite excited to hear that," said Mithun.
Mithun states that he had grown up watching Javagal Srinath, who was an inspiration for him during his early days in cricket. Later on, when he graduated to the state level, his coaches used to comment on the similarities between him and Srinath. Mithun recalls, "When I was playing under-19, my coach used to tell me that I bowl like Srinath and that also used to pump me up to do better as this comparison showed the expectations that my coaches had from me."
Although Friday's feat looks more remarkable than that of Srinath, Mithun admits that he still has a long way to go. "Srinath has achieved almost everything and is right there on top. Though I have made a similar debut, I will now need to carry on with my form and look to do better to live up to the expectations that people have from me now," said Mithun.
Leave aside Srinath's feat, Mithun admitted that he didn't even expect to do so well on his debut. "When I went on the field on Day 2 to bowl, I was a bit nervous, but Rahul (Dravid) came and told me not to try different things and bowl on the right spot," said Mithun. "However, once I picked up a few wickets, I gained confidence, but again, I would like to tell you I never expected to pick up six wickets in the first innings itself," he added.
On his hat-trick delivery, Mithun recalls, "Once RP Singh came to the crease, I knew that I was on a hat-trick and RP being a fast bowler himself was expecting me to bowl a yorker. But I just pitched the ball on a good length and got the reward."
With such a debut under his belt, Mithun is now looking forward to the rest of the season as he knows that a one-off performance is not enough to get into the big league and consistency is the key to success in modern day cricket. But for Karnataka, one can only hope that Mithun can once again bring back the days of Srinath for the team.

Tag: MITHUN, SRINATH, DEBUT, WICKETS, HAT-TRICK, A HAT-TRICK, BOWL, FEAT, MATCH, JAVAGAL SRINATH, KARNATAKA, DAYS, JAVAGAL, PICKING, A HAT-TRICK DEBUT, PICKING WICKETS, I A,