Manav Suthar‘s initiation into Test cricket has been educational and informative. And he is all of two matches young.
A stirring debut against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh in June netted him six first-innings wickets and the Player of the Match award.
In his second outing, at the Galle International Stadium, the 24-year-old finished with impressive figures of 10-131, the best for India in a Test in Sri Lanka, to set up a 165-run victory, India’s sixth on the bounce in this country.
These wickets didn’t come easy. For more than two and a half hours on Wednesday’s final morning Suthar found little joy. The Kookaburra was old and bereft of threat, whatever happened off the surface happened slowly enough for the batters to adjust comfortably. Patience and persistence were imperative, and Suthar embraced both qualities with aplomb before leaving his imprint with four wickets off his last 10 deliveries.
In the first innings, Suthar was straying too much on to the left-handers’ pads, especially during the fifth-wicket stand of 146 between Sonal Dinusha and Niroshan Dickwella. That was clearly part of the team plan; a similar plan was in vogue in the second dig too, but Suthar’s line changed subtly so that he was not picked off for easy singles.
There is something old-worldly and endearing about the way he goes about his business. For a tall man, he still gives the ball plenty of air. He doesn’t push it through, and because he has such a vast bag of tricks to dip into, he is a threat even in decent batting conditions. His height enables him to procure appreciable bounce and he seems to have a good, steady head on his shoulders, all terrific signs for Indian cricket as it slips into the post-R Ashwin era and preparing for the post phase.
To give Suthar a go ahead of the Harsh Dubey against the Afghanis is beginning to resemble a masterstroke.