Bangalore, May 31: Abhimanyu Mithun was in for a pleasant surprise while coping with jet-lag and the rigours of a hard training schedule.
The Karnataka speedster had just returned from Australia after finishing his stint at the Centre of Excellence at Brisbane as part of the Border-Gavaskar Scholarship when news of his inclusion with the Indian team currently touring Zimbabwe trickled in.
Mithun will replace his senior State-mate R. Vinay Kumar, who suffered a knee injury ahead of the game against Sri Lanka.
Mithun was practising with his India ‘A’ team-mates at the National Cricket Academy here on Sunday in the lead-up to the tour of England when he heard about his selection with the senior team.
“It was a surprise and I was not expecting it. I was looking forward to the India ‘A’ tour of England,” said Mithun.
Mithun, who has played a lone ODI against South Africa earlier this year, expressed his gratitude for the inputs he gained during his recent training program at the Centre of Excellence.
“I learnt a lot during my stint with the Centre of Excellence. My legs were collapsing in the final delivery stride and I worked on solving that and I also improved my pace. I now look forward to the games in Zimbabwe,” said Mithun, who scorched the Ranji charts last year with 47 scalps.
—Agencies