India handed a debut cap to spinner Manav Suthar on Saturday during the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Mullanpur. After winning the toss, skipper Shubman Gill opted to bat and confirmed Suthar’s international debut. Ahead of the match, all eyes were on India’s playing XI, with fans eager to see who between Suthar or Harsh Dubey would be making the cut. Suthar, who featured for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026, received the maiden cap for the senior spinner Kuldeep Yadav. 

Who is Manav Suthar?

The 23-year-old spinner hails from Rajasthan and has played 29 first-class matches, picking up 129 wickets. He has also featured in 25 List A games and 29 T20s. In IPL 2026, Suthar played four matches for Gujarat Titans and claimed two wickets. Notably, he also became India’s first specialist spin Test debutant since Axar Patel in 2021.

With several young players in the squad, the Indian team management is also looking to identify a long-term replacement for veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Interestingly, this is the first time since November 2010 that India are playing a Test match without both Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja in the lineup.

Talking about the match, the two sides played their first and only Test in 2018, which India won by an innings and 262 runs within two days.

“We are gonna bat first. Very hot and humid. It’s going to get slower and lower. Very special, I grew up playing here. It’s a great privilege to captain here. The preparation has been good. Got a good couple of days of sleep. Nine Test matches after this, we’ve got quite a few home Test matches. It’s about getting the combination right. We’ve got Manav Suthar making his debut,” Gill said during the toss.

“We wanted to bat as well, as the wicket looks good. We need to play good cricket. We are ready for the challenge. We like challenges. We are well prepared for this game. We had a good preparation camp in Kabul. We have three seamers and two spinning combinations. We have one debutant – Nangeyalia Kharote,” Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said.

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