Manav Suthar makes his India debut (Photo: BCCI)
A dream years in the making became a reality for Manav Suthar on Saturday as the Rajasthan all-rounder received his first Test cap for India ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan at the Maharaja Yadavendra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.In a special moment during the pre-match presentation, senior pacer Kuldeep Yadav handed over the coveted Test cap, officially welcoming him into the Test fraternity in India.
Who is Manav Suthar?
Manav Suthar is a 23-year-old emerging Indian cricketer who plays as a bowling all-rounder. A traditional slow left-arm pacer and handy batsman, Suthar represents Rajasthan in domestic cricket and is part of the Gujarat Titans team in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
For Suthar, the occasion marks the culmination of a remarkable rise from the Rajasthan border town of Sri Ganganagar to the highest level of international cricket.The left-arm all-rounder has always been viewed as one of India’s brightest red-ball players. With Ravindra Jadeja rested for the Afghanistan Test, the selectors took the opportunity to hand Suthar his debut as they continue to evaluate India’s next generation of bowlers.
Suthar earned his maiden Test call-up after a string of outstanding performances in domestic cricket and in India A. He first came to national attention during the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season, finishing as Rajasthan’s leading wicket-taker with 39 wickets in just six matches. Suthar enters international cricket with an impressive first-class record of 129 wickets and 945 runs from 29 matches. He was an excellent performer for India A.
He finished as the joint highest wicket-taker during the unofficial Test series against Australia ‘A’ (which included a haul of 5/107) and excelled in the 2023 Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
Toss the updates, India bat first
India won the toss and captain Shubman Gill decided to bat first at Mullanpur against Afghanistan. Here is the starting lineup for the only non-Test match:India (Playing XI): Rahul, Yashavi Jaiswal, Sai Sudarsan, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (W), Dhruv Gurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh KrishnaAfghanistan (Playing XI): Siddiqullah Atal, Rehmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahma Shah, Heshmatullah Shahidi (C), Afsar Zazai (W), Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nanjialia Kharot, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Muhammad Saleem Safi.