NEW DELHI: Manav Suthar’s journey from dreaming about playing Test cricket for India to winning the Player of the Match award on debut could not have been scripted any better. The 23-year-old left-arm spinner from Rajasthan donned the baggy blue for the first time, becoming India’s 319th men’s Test cricketer, and made an immediate impact as India crushed Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test in Mullanpur – the biggest victory in the country’s Test history.Suthar played a central role in the dominant win, returning sensational figures of 6/33 in Afghanistan’s first innings before adding another wicket in the second innings to finish with a seven-wicket match haul. He also chipped in with a valuable 28 runs in India’s first innings.After India piled up a mammoth 564/8 declared, thanks to centuries from KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill, Afghanistan had no answers to Suthar’s accuracy and control. The left-armer ripped through the visitors’ batting line-up to become only the 10th Indian overall – and the seventh spinner – to claim a five-wicket haul on Test debut.His figures of 6/33 are also the best by an Indian bowler on Test debut in 38 years.
Exclusive club
Suthar’s match-winning effort earned him the Player of the Match award, making him only the ninth Indian cricketer to receive the honour on his men’s Test debut.The elite list includes Pravin Amre, RP Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Indians to win Player of the Match on men’s Test debut:
- Pravin Amre (vs South Africa, 1992)
- RP Singh (vs Pakistan, 2006)
- Ravichandran Ashwin (vs West Indies, 2011)
- Shikhar Dhawan (vs Australia, 2013)
- Rohit Sharma (vs West Indies, 2013)
- Prithvi Shaw (vs West Indies, 2018)
- Shreyas Iyer (vs New Zealand, 2021)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal (vs West Indies, 2023)
- Manav Suthar (vs Afghanistan, 2026)
Consistency is everything for Manav Suthar
After receiving the Player of the Match award, Suthar reflected on the biggest lesson from his maiden Test appearance.“The biggest lesson is that consistency is everything. You have to keep bowling in the same area over and over again. I think that’s the most important thing in Test cricket. It’s a format that demands a lot of patience,” Suthar said at the presentation ceremony.“That’s what I’ve learned, keep being patient, stick to your plans and keep hitting the right areas consistently,” he said.For Suthar, the occasion was about much more than wickets and records. The youngster admitted that fulfilling his dream of playing Test cricket for India was still sinking in.“It was a very unreal feeling. It has been my dream from the very beginning to play for India and to play Test cricket. So it was an incredible moment for me and honestly felt quite unreal.”
How batting helped Manav Suthar’s bowling
Interestingly, Suthar revealed that his brief stay at the crease helped him understand the conditions before he took the ball in hand.“Even when I went out to bat, I felt quite comfortable. As I settled in and faced a few deliveries, I realised there was a bit of assistance for the spinners on the wicket.”“Then, when I came on to bowl and delivered my first over, I got the same feeling. After that, my only focus was to keep using the right line, length and pace.”The left-arm spinner said he did not try anything fancy at the start and instead backed his strengths.“Initially, my focus was on understanding how the wicket was playing. That’s why I wanted to rely on my stock delivery as much as possible.”“Once I understood that the wicket was a little slow and required some variation in pace, I started making those adjustments. But the main idea was always to make my stock ball as effective as possible.”