It’s not easy to hold one’s own as a young spinner in the company of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. However, Manav Suthar, the unassuming 24-year-old from Rajasthan did it in his own way to return with a 10-wicket haul in only his second Test against Sri Lanka to ensure India force itself back in the reckoning in the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
After playing a key role in restricting Sri Lanka’s first innings with a four-wicket haul, the left-arm spinner returned to finish the job with figures of 23.4-2-55-6 in the second to short circuit the hosts’ attempt to see through the final day and force a draw if possible. A target of 372 on a fifth day wicket, that too after beginning the day at 84 for four was an improbable one but Manav ran through the lower order just before it started to pour again at Galle.
In just his second Test, the youngster breached the 10-wicket mark to become the ninth Indian spinner to achieve the feat. Ravichandran Ashwin and Anil Kumble hold the record for the most 10-wicket hauls with eight each, followed by Harbhajan Singh (5) and Ravindra Jadeja (3).
In two Tests so far (after having made his debut against Afghanistan in June), Manav now has 17 wickets with his haul of six for 33 in the debut Test, his career-best so far. It’s still early days but this product of India’s domestic ecosystem has what it takes to step into the shoes of Ravindra Jadeja as the regular left-arm spinner in red ball cricket—a stomach for giving the ball air to keep the batters guessing, an enviable control over line and length for someone his age and ability to get bounce off the wicket.
It was an extremely welcome Test win for India, their first in the ongoing WTC cycle since their series sweep against the West Indies at home last October. The 2-0 embarrassment at the hands of Proteas at home late last year would still rankle as many questioned if their batters’ ability to counter spin had been on the wane. It’s in this context that Devdutt Padikkal’s daddy hundred in the first innings played a key role in setting up the match for India, something which won him the Player of the Match ahead of Manav or homeboy Sonal Dinusha—who showed an exemplary temperament to score 100 and 84 in either innings.
Where did Manav Suthar actually come from? A little digging shows that Manav, who plays for Gujarat Titans in the IPL, earned the Test call-up on the back of a string of outstanding performances in domestic cricket and for India A. He first grabbed national attention during the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season, finishing as Rajasthan’s leading wicket-taker with 39 wickets in just six matches. His cumulative record in first-class cricket is a total of 129 wickets and 945 runs from 29 matches.
In recent times, Suthar had been a stellar performer for India A, finishing as joint highest wicket-taker in the unofficial Test series against Australia A (which included a standout 107/5) and excelled in the 2023 ACC Emerging Team Asia Cup.
A beaming Test captain Shubman Gill said later: “He (Manav) has been bowling magnificently, even in the first match he played in India and in this match as well. He looks like a promising guy and someone who can play for India for a very long time.” The discussion among TV pundits of the official broadcasters was how the bowler balances his core skill sets with the demands of the white ball game in future.
For now, the journey is certainly well begun for Manav Suthar.
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