As the news of Manav Suthar getting a call-up to India’s squad for the upcoming Test against Afghanistan, tears wells up in his father Jagdish Suthar’s eyes. Ever since it emerged that Suthar is in contention to make the Indian team, the senior Suthar has been deeply engrossed in prayers that he struggles to open up when asked about the moment. As Jagdish sobs uncontrollably, his wife takes over the phone. “Usko, andhar se poore emotions bhar araha hai…Woah bahut tough, but yei moment bahut emotional,” she says. Even as Jagdish takes back the phone, he struggles to hold back. “Ei poore zindagi ka sapna Sir…. Zyada mehanat kiya. Bahut happy Sir,” he says.
Like most father-son story in Indian cricket, the story of Suthars isn’t different. During his younger years, cricket meant everything to Jagdish, who couldn’t get beyond school-level cricket. And when Manav showed interest in cricket, the choice was a no-brainer. “I didn’t push him…he had interest in cricket, so at 11, I put him in academy,” Jagdish, who works as a PE teacher at a school at Sri Ganganagar, a small town five km from Pakistan border says. Bowling left-arm spinners, though, wasn’t in Jagdish’s mind. “I wanted him to become a batsman. But, his coach (Dheeraj Sharma) told me on the first day of training that my son is made for bowling,” he says.
Ever since Manav was summoned to the India’s preparatory camp for the 2023 World Cup, the 23-year-old who is also a reliable batsman lower down the order, has been in the national radar. Even before he joined the camp in Bengaluru, there was plenty of hype around him. At the camp, as he troubled the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, it was evident that the hype was real. The common acknowledgement among the senior players during that camp was if he could manage to get drift with white-ball, then he could do wonders with the red-ball.
In the lead up to the team selection, the Suthar household had been a worried a lot. At a time where, players in the Indian Premier League hog the limelight, there were even talks in Sri Ganganagar that Manav isn’t made for the top level, as he went the entire season waiting in the bench with Gujarat Titans in 2025 and played only four fixtures this season. Even when he toured to UK as part of the India A squad to face England Lions in 2025, opportunities deserted him. At last year’s Duleep Trophy too, he carried the drinks for Central Zone, which preferred Saransh Jain and Harsh Dubey. The story was no different last September with India A, which started with Dubey and Tanush Kotian against Australia A in the first Test.
It was in this backdrop that Suthar got drafted into India A XI for the second Test against Australia A last year, where he picked up five wickets to prove his credentials again. “He was actually very nervous,” Suthar’s coach Dheeraj Sharma says. “He was not getting opportunities anywhere. At Gujarat Titans, he had Sai Kishore ahead of him. When there was lot of talk around not getting an IPL game, I kept telling him only thing. ‘If you play for India, then you will do so with the red-ball. They will hand over the red-ball to you one day and when that happens, never let it go,’. He is made for Test cricket,” Sharma says.
That Suthar is made for Test cricket isn’t a tag that is placed on him for the wrong reasons or to stop him from flourishing in white-ball circuit. The reason why Dheeraj has been repeatedly in his ward’s ears that he is made for Test cricket is largely down to his skillset. “He is built in a classical mould. He is not someone who will bowl with a flat trajectory. He has an action and a release which is perfect for a left-arm spinner. Be it the bowling speeds, or variations, or efficiency in terms of constantly asking questions, he has it in him. White-ball is a different experience and even though he hasn’t got any game time in IPL, I tell him to use the two months to learn from the rest in terms of how they prepare and read the game,” Dheeraj says.
At a time when India’s spin bowling resources are thin, the selectors haven’t just gone by numbers. Playing for Rajasthan, which hasn’t got beyond the group stages in recent years, means opportunities have been few. In 29 first-class outings, he has picked up 129 wickets at 25.76 – not eye-popping numbers by any means – but what has got many excited are the traits that Dheeraj listed out.
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“In his mind, he thinks like a Test match bowler. From a young age, he understood the value of bowling dot balls. He is a firm believer that a set of dot balls will definitely lead to batsman making a mistake. So to bowl dot balls, one needs to be consistent with his line. He is definitely not a fully finished product, but if groomed, will serve you for long,” Dheeraj adds.
With Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar already part of the Test side, Suthar may have to wait for his turn like he has been doing off-late. In recent years, in Shahbaz Nadeem and Saurabh Kumar, Indian cricket has seen left-arm spinners specialised in red-ball cricket, found too slow for the top level. Dheeraj, though, has no such doubts. “Woh Test cricket ko thayaar Sir.”
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