Unconventional in his honing following unsatisfactory exploits as a discus-thrower, Abhimanyu Mithun’s rise in cricket has been nothing short of express. Within two years of picking a rubber ball, Mithun was already holding the coveted red cherry for India.

In those two years, a domestic hat-trick for Karnataka and selection to the IPL lottery for Bangalore buttressed his steady rise. Before his 21st birthday, Mithun had already featured in three Tests and two ODIs for India. Following injuries to various frontline seamers, the Bangalore lad boarded the flight to Sri Lanka in 2010, taking a four-for on debut and displaying excellent resilience as a tail-ender to level the series for India. It all started a meteoric rise, sure to be envied by many of his peers.

A tall, fast-paced bowler, Mithun uses his height to generate that extra bounce and relies majorly on his pace.