Who is Manav Suthar? The Rajasthan all-rounder handed India the Test cap against Afghanistan

Manav Suthar makes his debut for India (Image: BCCI) Years of dreams in the making finally came true for Manav Suthar on Saturday as the Rajasthani all-rounder received his first India Test cap ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.In a special moment during the pre-match presentation, senior spinner Kuldeep Yadav handed over the coveted Test cap and officially welcomed him into the Indian Test fraternity.

Who is Manav Suthar?

Manav Suthar is a 23-year-old rising Indian cricketer who plays as a bowling all-rounder. A traditional left-arm slow orthodox batsman and a skilful lower-order batsman, Suthar represents Rajasthan in domestic cricket and is part of the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL). For Suthar, the occasion marks the culmination of a remarkable rise from the border town of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan to the highest level of international cricket.The all-round left-arm spinner has long been considered one of India’s brightest red-ball prospects. With Ravindra Jadeja rested for the Afghanistan Test, the selectors took the opportunity to hand Suthar his debut as they continue to evaluate the next generation of Indian spin-bowling all-rounders.Suthar earned his Test debut after a string of outstanding performances in domestic cricket and for India A. He first came to national attention in the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy season when he finished as Rajasthan’s leading wicket-taker with 39 wickets in just six matches. Suthar enters international cricket with an impressive first-class record of 129 wickets and 945 runs from 29 matches. He was the star performer for India ‘A’. He finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker during the unofficial Test series against Australia ‘A’ (which included an excellent 5/107 haul) and excelled in the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.

Throw update, India bats first

India won the toss and captain Shubman Gill chose to bat first in Mullanpur against Afghanistan. Here is the playing XI for one non-test match:India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.Afghanistan (Playing XI): Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Afsar Zazai(w), Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangeyalia Kharote, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Mohammad Saleem Safi