<p>On a blistering Saturday, the 20-year-old from Bangalore earned his maiden international cap in the final one-dayer against South Africa, the icing on the cake in his first season in competitive cricket.<br /><br />The paceman didn’t exactly set the stage afire, finishing with figures of 8-0-63-0 including 19 in his last over on an absolute shirtfront, but he showed great composure and poise, and never looked like he didn’t belong at this level. <br /><br />He did learn the hard way, too, that international cricket isn’t anywhere near as forgiving as domestic cricket, a lesson that should stand him in good stead in the future.<br />Brought on in the eighth over as first-change with South Africa on 44 without loss, the man sporting the number 16 shirt began with a short, wide delivery that went under Hashim Amla’s bat, then sent down three more dot balls before the batsman hit back with back-to-back boundaries. <br /><br />It was quite the tale of the day as he struggled for sustained accuracy on a belter that offered no margin for error. Mithun’s chance came as the team management rested Ashish Nehra in a match of little serious consequence, given that India had already knotted up the series 2-0. <br /><br />Mithun, who topped all-comers in the Ranji Trophy with 47 sticks from nine games and finished the first-class season with 52 scalps from ten matches, hasn’t had like success in domestic one-day cricket, but the think-tank and the selectors used the opportunity to see whether he has what it takes to be a long-term prospect.<br /><br />Mithun, the 180th cricketer to turn out for India in one-day internationals, also became the first Karnataka player since Robin Uthappa in April 2006 (against England in Indore) to make his one-day debut and only the 17th in all from the State to represent the country in 50-over cricket.<br /><br /></p>
<p>On a blistering Saturday, the 20-year-old from Bangalore earned his maiden international cap in the final one-dayer against South Africa, the icing on the cake in his first season in competitive cricket.<br /><br />The paceman didn’t exactly set the stage afire, finishing with figures of 8-0-63-0 including 19 in his last over on an absolute shirtfront, but he showed great composure and poise, and never looked like he didn’t belong at this level. <br /><br />He did learn the hard way, too, that international cricket isn’t anywhere near as forgiving as domestic cricket, a lesson that should stand him in good stead in the future.<br />Brought on in the eighth over as first-change with South Africa on 44 without loss, the man sporting the number 16 shirt began with a short, wide delivery that went under Hashim Amla’s bat, then sent down three more dot balls before the batsman hit back with back-to-back boundaries. <br /><br />It was quite the tale of the day as he struggled for sustained accuracy on a belter that offered no margin for error. Mithun’s chance came as the team management rested Ashish Nehra in a match of little serious consequence, given that India had already knotted up the series 2-0. <br /><br />Mithun, who topped all-comers in the Ranji Trophy with 47 sticks from nine games and finished the first-class season with 52 scalps from ten matches, hasn’t had like success in domestic one-day cricket, but the think-tank and the selectors used the opportunity to see whether he has what it takes to be a long-term prospect.<br /><br />Mithun, the 180th cricketer to turn out for India in one-day internationals, also became the first Karnataka player since Robin Uthappa in April 2006 (against England in Indore) to make his one-day debut and only the 17th in all from the State to represent the country in 50-over cricket.<br /><br /></p>
