Manav Suthar (Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry photo)
New Delhi: Manav Suthar’s journey from dreaming of playing Test cricket for India to winning the Man of the Match award on debut could not have been written better. The 23-year-old Rajasthan cricketer donned the baggy blue for the first time, becoming India’s 319th men’s cricketer, and made an immediate impact as India demolished Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test at Mullanpur – the biggest victory in the country’s Test history.Suthar played a central role in the dominant win, returning sensational figures of 6/33 in Afghanistan’s first innings before adding another wicket in the second innings to finish with a match-winning haul of seven wickets. He also chipped in with 28 runs in India’s first innings.
After India put together a reported mammoth 564/8, thanks to centuries from KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill, Afghanistan had no answers for Suthar’s accuracy and control.
The left-armer cracked the visitors’ batting line-up to become only the 10th Indian overall – and seventh spinner – to take a five-wicket haul in the first Test.
His figures of 6/33 are also the best by an Indian bowler on his first Test in 38 years.
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Suthar’s match-winning effort earned him the Player of the Match award, making him only the ninth Indian cricketer to receive the honor on his men’s Test debut.The elite list includes Praveen Amre, RB Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Indians win player of the match award in first men’s Test:
- Praveen Amre (vs South Africa, 1992)
- RB Singh (vs Pakistan, 2006)
- Ravichandran Ashwin (vs West Indies, 2011)
- Shikhar Dhawan (vs Australia, 2013)
- Rohit Sharma (vs West Indies, 2013)
- Prithvi Shaw (vs West Indies, 2018)
- Shreyas Iyer (vs New Zealand, 2021)
- Yashavi Jaiswal (vs West Indies, 2023)
- Manav Suthar (vs Afghanistan, 2026)
Consistency is everything for Mazen Suthar
After being named man of the match, Southar reflected on the biggest lesson from his Test debut.“The biggest lesson is that consistency is everything. You have to keep bowling the same area over and over again,” Southar said at the presentation ceremony. I think that’s the most important thing in Test cricket. “It’s a format that requires a lot of patience.”“That’s what I’ve learned, keep being patient, stick to your plans and keep hitting the right areas consistently,” he said.For Southar, the occasion was about much more than wickets and records. The youngster admitted that fulfilling his dream of playing Test cricket for India is still sinking in.“It was a very unreal feeling. It had been my dream from the beginning to play for India and play Test cricket. So it was an amazing moment for me and honestly it felt completely unreal.”
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How batting helped Manav Suthar’s bowling
Interestingly, Southar revealed that his short stay at the crease helped him understand the conditions before taking the ball into his hands.“Even when I walked out to bat, I felt completely comfortable. When I settled down and faced some deliveries, I realized there was little help for the players on the wicket.”“Then, when I came to the bowl and hit the ball for the first time, I felt the same way. After that, my only focus was to keep using the right line, length and speed.”The left-arm pacer said he did not try anything fancy initially and instead played to his strengths.“Initially, my focus was on understanding how to play the wicket. That’s why I wanted to rely on my stock delivery as much as possible.”“Once I realized the wicket was a bit slow and required some change of pace, I started making those adjustments. But the main idea was always to make my stock ball as efficient as possible.”