On the 6th of June, 2026, New Chandigarh witnessed two remarkable events. First, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur became the latest entrant of the 31 Test venues in India. A lanky, slow left-arm orthodox spinner from Sri Ganganagar, receiving the 319th Test cap from Kuldeep Yadav, became the second one. The first event is already a marquee and historic one, but for the second event to occur, sustainability, accuracy, and consistent performance had to be the key.
Manav Jagdusakumar Suthar showed promise in the first match for his country. His debut was on the back of doubts as he was preferred over the Vidarbha cricketer Harsh Dubey, who had a splendid Ranji Trophy season a couple of years back, bagging 69 wickets. A year ago, Dubey’s batting numbers in first-class cricket were much superior to Suthar’s, but the latter ameliorated his batting skills to match the numbers. Both were in the squad, but the management opted for Suthar, and he immediately showed why it was the right call.
A fairytale start
Shubman Gill handed Suthar the ball when there was just one over left before tea on Day 2. Suthar beat Abdul Malik’s outside edge thrice, and the batter ran out of patience next ball. He shuffled across early, and spotting that, Suthar dragged the length back a bit and generated some extra bounce off the deck. Malik mistimed the sweep, and the top-edge was engulfed by Mohammad Siraj at short fine leg.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s dismissal was something quintessentially Manav Suthar. In the T20 era, where spinners mostly work on their variations, Suthar did hours of spot bowling to hone his accuracy. His ability to rotate the ball in the air and consistently land on the seam helps him to get the purchase. He pitched it at the middle and leg stump junction, and Gurbaz prodded forward to defend the ball. The ball landed on the seam, and that overspin imparted extra bounce and turned away and Gurbaz was caught off guard. It was a regulation catch at second slip for Sai Sudharsan.
The testament of his being a classical slow left-arm orthodox will not finish if Rahmat Shah’s dismissal is not cited. Rahmat, Afghanistan’s most technically sound batter, played 134 balls before that and was safely negotiating the Indian spin trio. Suthar flighted the ball up on full length at the leg stump line. Rahmat saw it as an opportunity to find a boundary and he went across for a sweep. The ball drifted back in and beat Rahmat and he heard the death rattle of the ball hitting the stumps.
Afghanistan were bowled out for 152 with Suthar going back to the dressing room amidst a round of applause as he finished the innings with 6/33. Only Narendra Hirwani bettered him in terms of taking wickets in his debut Test innings when he took 8/61 against Australia in Chennai, 1988.
Record after record
Only five Indian spinners have taken 6 or more wickets in any innings of their debut Test. Hirwani did it twice, picking up another 8-wicket haul in the second innings of his debut Test. Ravichandran Ashwin and Dilip Doshi are the others, barring Suthar, in this elite list.
Among Indians, Suthar boasts the fifth-best bowling figures for India on Test debut. Hirwani (16/136 vs Australia, 1988), Mohammed Shami (9/118 vs West Indies, 2013), Ravichandran Ashwin (9/128 vs West Indies, 2011) and Dilip Doshi (8/167 vs Australia, 1979) are ahead of him (7/62 in this Test vs Afghanistan).
Suthar’s 6/33 is also the best by a left-arm spinner in a debut Test innings. West Indian cricketer Alfred Valentine took 8/104 against England in Manchester way back in 1950, and 76 years later, that record is still unassailable.
Suthar’s childhood was a very ordinary one. His father was a teacher and when he aspired to be a professional cricketer, doubts hovered. Many said that there’s not much opportunity, as only a few can make the cut to the highest level. Many said that the sport is itself very expensive to carry on. But nothing could deter his burning ambition to represent the country in the purest format.
Primarily, he saw himself as a batter, but his childhood coach, Dheeraj Sharma, saw the potential in him as a spinner and told his student to lay more emphasis on that. Suthar worked on his accuracy, his ability to consistently land it on the seam and impart the top spin. To add more variation, he learned to use the flight and drift well and that made him hard to ignore.
With an experience of 29 first-class games before his debut Test, Suthar stepped into the purest format of international cricket and he impressed of Ashwin’s stature and fellow spinner Washington Sundar. Suthar finished his debut Test, bagging the Player of the Match award, being the 9th Indian to do so. In this elite list, most of them made it through their batting performance, barring three cricketers. RP Singh (vs Pakistan, Faisalabad, 2006) and Ravichandran Ashwin (vs West Indies, Delhi, 2011) and Suthar are there for their bowling showdown.
The promise has been made. The relentless accuracy has been the talk of the town. The state of Rajasthan got a Test cricketer after 12 years since Pankaj Singh in 2014. Now that Ashwin has retired and Ravindra Jadeja being at the sunset of his career, India will be relieved to have a wicket-taker like Suthar, whose relevance is amplified by his batting ability. Dubey may feel harsh, but the acumen of his competitor left him behind. With Kuldeep, Sundar, Axar Patel, and Suthar making their marks in Tests and Dubey in the reserves, India’s spin bowling future looks to be in safe hands.
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