Making the batsmen play more helped me: Mithun

Indian pacer Abhimanyu Mithun, who returned with a four-wicket haul in his debut Test against Sri Lanka, reckons his strategy to make the batsmen play more often paid dividends on Tuesday.

"Our bowling coach told us to go and do our best as possible. So today morning me and Ishant tried to make the batsmen play as much as possible and it helped in the end," the 20-year-old speedster said after the third day's play.

"From the first session the pitch was doing something. After lunch it was doing a bit but there was no bounce. We tried to pull up the batsmen. It was good that I got a chance to play in the Test. I was very happy when I got the first wicket," said Mithun.

Mithun never imagined playing for India so early in his career which made him nervous before the start of the game "I never had any ambition to play for India. Since I started playing cricket, I used to just tell myself that I have to play my best and try to make a name for myself and I ended up playing for India," he said.

"In the junior level, I was passionate about cricket but I used to play with tennis ball. Later when I turned 17, I started bowling with leather ball," said Mithun, who was more interested in athletics and discus throw in his early teens.

The Karnataka bowler, who forced his way into the national squad for the Test series against South Africa after a successful Ranji debut season in 2009-10, said he was a bit nervous before the start of the match but seniors in the team helped him to deal with the pressure.

"I was a bit nervous before the start of the match but my seniors, everybody told me it is ok to be a little nervous as everyone feels so initially. So I should just try to enjoy the moment," he said.

Asked about his chances once regular pacers Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth return to the team, Mithun said he would look to build himself for future.

"I will concentrate on my game. What I should do. How I should work hard and try to build my confidence. I will work on my strengths, try to build myself," he said.

India had their backs to the wall, still trailing by 380 runs with seven wickets in hand but Mithun felt the visitors have enough depth in batting to tide over the crisis.

"We have a good batting depth. There is a lot of batting to come in the lower order as well. So we will play as much as we can in each sessions.

"We should try and bat for the team rather than looking for individual performance. I will try to bat for the team and help the team," he said.

Mithun also paid his tribute to the different coaches who helped him to hone his skills.

"My Under 19 coach and then state coach Sanath Kumar helped me a lot during my initial days and when I joined the national team, Eric Simmon gave me a lot of confidence," he said.