India, Nov. 12 -- For moments when he needs motivation, Manvanth Kumar turns to Haikyu!!, a Japanese anime series centred around volleyball and the determination of its young protagonist, Shoyo Hinata.

When the 22-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder from Karnataka needs to gear up for a match. There is another ritual. He listens to the Hanuman Chalisa.

Both, in their own ways, help him find his rhythm. Having spent much of his young career making a name for himself in T20 cricket, he has now emerged as one of Karnataka's most promising seam-bowling all-rounders in his debut Ranji Trophy season.

Two centuries and a fifty with the bat - overall 374 runs in four matches - alongside a five-wicket haul, have given his career a new dimension....