Manav Suthar teases India’s spin future in New Chandigarh
Of the key answers that India were pursuing with purpose this week, one arrived on the second afternoon of the one-off Test in New Chandigarh. It would have taken nothing less than a miracle for Afghanistan to silence the Indian batters once captain Shubman Gill had decided to bat first on the opening morning. Predictably, they failed, saved in part from the painful fielding exercise with an Indian declaration coming at 567 for eight after 127 overs on day two. Minutes before tea, the Indian management were teased with a sequence that would have helped tick a vital box of the fourth spinner before the World Test Championship (WTC) assignments resume in Sri Lanka in two months. Hailing from close to the Line of Control (LOC) in west Rajasthan, debutant Manav Suthar imbued second-nature restraint with the ball. The left-arm spinner initiated his bowling career with a vicious turner – whirring past Afghanistan opener Abdul Malik’s wafted bat from length. Three deliveries in, the 23-year-old landed the ball with a similar trajectory. Sharp spin at …



