Galle, Aug 19 (PTI) Indian skipper Shubman Gill was becoming restless. Clouds were gathering fast over Galle stadium, and the Sri Lankans were showing some unexpected fight.
To add to India’s worries, the old, worn out Kookaburra ball was doing precious little, and the first Test was slipping fast.
Then came that little moment of magic.
Manav Suthar, who was into the seventh over of his latest spell, found that extra bounce from the rough around Sonal Dinusha’s leg-stump, and Dhruv Jurel just needed to wrap his palms around the ball at leg slip.
In the remaining five balls of the over, he knocked out Prabath Jayasuriya and Lahiru Kumara to decisively end Lanka’s fight in the first Test.
India eventually won the match by 165 runs and Suthar completed a 10-wicket effort.
But it was also clear in that vital 76th over that India’s new-look spin bowling department had found its future leader in this young left-arm spinner from Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan.
Ravichandran Ashwin has long gone, and sun is setting on Ravindra Jadeja’s fabulous career.
Suthar has played just two Tests but the 24-year-old has already taken some big strides forward in grabbing India’s spin baton from the two past masters.
Of course, Suthar has impressive natural skills. His action is fluid, finishing with a classic high-arm action.
Jadeja darts in the ball to hurry batters, whereas Suthar floats it often above their eye line and makes them wait for that extra seconds longer.
When they bowl together, it’s a nightmare for batters to plan against two left-arm spinners who operate with different philosophies.
But those on-field skill sets apart, Suthar is a meticulous planner. Perhaps, it’s a trait imbibed from his father Jagadish Suthar, a PE teacher at a local school.
Before travelling to Sri Lanka, Suthar visited the BCCI Centre of Excellence to have a specialised training under former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi.
At the CoE, they worked on optimising his run-up, besides bowling with Kookaburra balls, which are used in Sri Lanka, and recreating the open field conditions of Galle, where sea winds create pronounced drift, at the local ground.
Here, the BCCI and team bigwigs too deserve a share of the credit for showing the right vision.
When India went for a shadow tour of Sri Lanka ahead of the Test series, Suthar was kept in the ‘A’ squad. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar decided that Suthar will be better off playing County cricket for Warwickshire.
The reason was two-fold.
The team management didn’t want Sri Lanka to have enough data on Suthar and also English conditions would give him an idea of how to bowl with Dukes balls also.
The effect was visible in the first Test here as Suthar grabbed four wickets in Sri Lanka’s first innings and six in the second dig. Sri Lanka head coach Gary Kirsten, who has a keen eye for talent, was impressed.
“He’s a fantastic talent. He’s got a lot of wickets already at Test match level. I think he’s a great spinner for Test match cricket. He gets on top of his action a little bit and he gets the ball to bounce.
“Yeah, I had the good fortune of meeting him a few years back at Gujarat, and kind of got to know him and understand him a little bit. He’s very respectful around the game,” said Kirsten.
According to his father, watching Ashwin’s video is among the favourite pastimes of Suthar.
As Kirsten said, it could also be a sign of Suthar’s inner respect for a bowler who scripted so many famous wins for India in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
And if the young progeny continues to travel on the same road as his illustrious predecessor, then millions will be watching him in the loop soon.