Manav Suthar etched his name into history books on debut at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur during India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan when the left-arm spinner from Rajasthan struck on his fourth ball in international cricket.
After India rode on centuries from KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill to post 564/8 declared, Suthar was given the task to weave his magic on the sixth over of Afghanistan’s first innings. The 23-year-old kept his captain faith with the wicket of Abdul Malik, caught by Mohammed Siraj at short fine leg. While Suthar’s maiden wicket for India sparked celebrations, his parents quietly flew back home after seeing their son receive his maiden Test cap.
But why? Based on a PTI report, Suthar’s parents and sister chose not to stay at the Mullanpur stadium, due to superstition. “Yes, me, my wife and my daughter Mansi (Manav’s younger sister) had come to watch his debut,” Manav’s father Jagdish said on the second day of the Test on Sunday.
“I can’t describe how it felt seeing him get the Test Cap yesterday. However today we had come back home as we were all nervous and a bit superstitious watching him live in action from the stadium,” added Jagdish. At the end of the second day’s play, Afghanistan were five wickets down to just 113 runs, with Manav taking three of them. Afghanistan are 451 runs behind.
With the wicket of Malik, Suthar became the eighth Indian cricketer to take a wicket on the first over of a Test debut. Before Suthar, Montu Banerjee (vs West Indies, 1948), Manohar Hardikar (vs West Indies, 1958), Vaman Kumar (vs Pakistan, 1961), Chetan Sharma (vs Pakistan, 1984), WV Raman (vs West Indies, 1988), Nilesh Kulkarni (vs Sri Lanka, 1997) and Tinu Yohannan (vs England, 2001) achieved the same.
What made Suthar’s achievement more special is that it came after a huge gap of 25 years. The last time an Indian cricketer took a wicket on the first over of Test debut was Yohannan, when he dismissed England opener Mark Butcher in 2001. Interestingly, Yohannan also struck on his fourth ball.
In fact, Suthar was preferred ahead of spin-bowling all-rounder Harsh Dubey and was given cap no.319 by fellow Kuldeep Yadav. Suthar became the first speciallist spin-bowling Test debutant for India after Axar Patel in 2021.
What led to Manav Suthar’s India selection?
Suthar’s selection comes on the back of a decent showing in the domestic circuit. The Rajasthan all-rounder has taken 129 wickets in 29 first-class matches at an average of 25.76, with best figures of 8/33, including six five-wicket hauls and three ten-wicket hauls.
He has scored 945 runs in 48 innings at an average of 25.54, with a century and six fifties and a best score of 120. This year for the Gujarat Titans, he took two wickets in four matches at an average of 34.00.
Earlier, speaking on his debut, Suthar recalled the emotional moment by calling it the “best feeling of my life.” “I was in my room when my sister called me. Maybe she was watching the squad announcement event. She told me that my name had come up in the Indian team,” Suthar told JioStar.
“I asked her if it was official. She said yes, it’s official. She was the first one to call me. Everyone was emotional when I got the call. Dad, mom, everyone called me. They couldn’t believe it. I can’t describe it in words. It’s the biggest feeling. You work hard for years, and then you finally get selected for India. It’s the best feeling. The best feeling of my life,” he added.