by New Delhi. There is no telling which direction fate will take you. At the beginning of their career, these three players never dreamed that one day they will play cricket for Team India. Haryana’s Barinder Sran dreamed of making a name for himself in boxing, while Abhimanyu Mithun and Tinu Yohannan wanted to achieve fame in the world of athletics. Abhimanyu Mithun aspired to become the country’s top-level javelin thrower, while Tinu’s father TC Yohannan of Kerala won a gold medal for the country in the long jump event at the Asian Games. In such a situation, Tinu’s first love was also athletics.
During this time there also came a time when these three players not only thought of leaving their original game to make a career in cricket but also made it a reality with hard work. Saran, Mithun and Tinu, all three played for India as fast bowlers. It is a different matter that his international career did not last long despite some brilliant performances. Left-arm fast bowler Saran holds the record for India’s best performance in a T20 international debut match, while Mithun has taken a hat-trick in all three formats (First Class, ODI and T20) in domestic cricket. In T20 format he took 5 wickets in one over.
Barinder Saran: Became a fast bowler while boxing
Born in Sirsa, Haryana, Barinder Saran would have been a top class boxer if not a cricketer. He used to train in Bhiwani Academy to make a name for himself in boxing. Haryana has a glorious past in boxing and apart from boxing, this small state has also produced great players in wrestling and kabaddi. Barinder, the son of a farmer, once read an advertisement of Kings XI Punjab and from here his desire to become a cricketer arose. To learn bowling tricks, he enrolled in former cricketer Amit Uniyal’s academy in Mohali in 2011. Worked hard to fulfill his dream. Many times he used to cycle many kilometers from his village Kharar to Mohali. Being a left arm fast bowler also became a ‘plus point’ for him. Saran’s hard work paid off and he managed to get a place in the Indian team in 2016 by performing brilliantly in domestic cricket.
On 12 January 2016, he made his international debut in an ODI against Australia in Perth and took three wickets for 56 runs. In this match, Sarn took the wickets of Aaron Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith. However, even after this performance, Team India had to face defeat in the match by 5 wickets. In 2016 itself, in June, Sran made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in Harare and was named ‘Player of the Match’ with 4 wickets for 10 runs. This is still the best bowling performance by an Indian bowler in T20 Internationals. Praising Barinder’s performance, veteran cricketer Yuvraj Singh once tweeted, ‘Barinder reminds me of a young Zaheer Khan.’ However, Saran’s international career did not last long and he could only play 6 ODIs and 2 T20Is. He has 7 wickets in ODIs at an average of 38.42 and 6 wickets in T20s at an average of 6.83. On 22 June, Sarn played his last international match in a T20 against Zimbabwe. Saran’s name also came into the limelight when he was bought by Punjab Kings in 2018 for Rs. 2.2 crores and by Mumbai Indians for IPL 2019 at Rs. 3.4 crores was bought for a huge amount. Saran has 18 wickets in 24 IPL matches.
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Abhimanyu Mithun: Started bowling by throwing the javelin
Karnataka’s Abhimanyu Mithun, who played 4 Tests and 5 ODIs for India in 2010-11, has a similar story to Barinder Sran. Abhimanyu was a well-known name in Karnataka in athletics javelin throw competition but due to some reasons he could not progress. Later, on the advice of a friend, he tried his hand at fast bowling and made a name for himself in domestic cricket. He also played for India. He has 9 wickets and 120 runs in four Tests and three wickets and 51 runs in 5 ODIs. He played his last match in international cricket in December 2011 against West Indies. Abhimanyu has achieved a hat-trick in all three formats of domestic cricket. He took a hat-trick for Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy match against UP in 2009. After this, he bowled consecutively against Tamil Nadu in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (ODI) in October 2019 against Shah Rukh Khan, M. Mohammad and Murugan took the wickets of Ashwin. Just a month later, Abhimanyu Mithun repeated the feat in the T20 format. He took 5 wickets including a hat-trick in an over against Haryana in the semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (ODI). Mithun dismissed Himanshu Rana, Rahul Tewatia, Sumit Kumar and Amit Mishra in the first 4 balls of his over. He took the wicket of Jayant Yadav on the last ball of the over. Mithun has said goodbye to first class cricket in 2021.
Tinu Yohannan: Quit high jumping to become a cricketer
Tall Kerala fast bowler Tinu Yohannan’s first love was not cricket but athletics. His father TC Yohan has won gold medal in long jump for the country. At the 1974 Tehran Asian Games, ‘Senior Yohanan’ became the first Asian athlete to clear a distance of over 8 meters with a jump of 8.07 metres. This record of his remained intact for three decades. Tinu also used to participate in high jump events in the beginning. Later he chose cricket as his career. Tinu honed his bowling skills at the MRF Pace Academy. Played as a fast bowler for India from 2001 to 2002. However, he could only play three Tests and three ODIs. He took 5 wickets each in both Tests and ODIs. 45-year-old Tinu, who has retired from cricket, is currently serving at the High Performance Center of the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA).
Tags: Cricket Records, Indian Cricket Team, Team India, Test cricket
First published: July 6, 2024, 06:59 IST
