MUMBAI: If the Sri Lanka batters are to flourish in the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club, they must somehow ensure Manav Suthar doesn’t start well. Going by what we saw at Galle, once the left-arm spinner settles down, he is hard to shake off.
After taking a first-ball wicket in his opening spell of 6-1-13-2, the young Indian left-arm spinner made the difference in both innings, finishing with a 10-wicket match haul and proving central to India’s 165-run win over Sri Lanka.
“I have seen many games where Manav bowls well in the first spell, the rhythm he gets into then changes the complexion of the game,” said Anshu Jain, who was the Rajasthan Ranji coach last season.
“With the Rajasthan team, when he gets early wickets and bowls well in the first innings, he dominates the full game. In the first innings when he got a first-ball wicket, and bowled that first spelll. It was a good sign. I felt he would run through the second innings, and he did just that,” said Jain, who has alternated between Rajasthan’s Ranji coach (2023-24 and 2025-26, and the U-23 side from 2021 to 2023).
Even on his Test debut against Afghanistan in June, Suthar took his first Test wicket (Abdul Malik) with his fourth ball, and went on to claim a six-wicket haul.
Classical style
In a game where spinners look to bowl flatter and quicker for fear of being hit by the ultra-aggressive batsmen, the 24-year-old Suthar’s classical bowling style is a breath of fresh air. He is not afraid to flight the ball, looking to deceive batters in the air and with sharp turn. That was evident from the first ball of the Galle Test when he dismissed Dinesh Chandimal by inducing an edge to wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant off a ball that turned sharply and bounced as well.
Showcasing the qualities of classical spin bowling, the young left-armer used drift, overspin, bounce and variations of flight to dismantle Sri Lanka in both innings.
So far, the old-fashioned approach is working beautifully for him and in his first two Tests, he has 17 wickets.
For coach Jain, the key is that with the same action and arm rotation, Suthar is able to vary his pace. “He consistently pitches the ball in the same area, but his trajectory is sometimes flat, sometimes flight. In that he is able to deceive the batsman. The arm ball he delivers, the batsman feels it is short of length, they go back to play, it gets them bowled or leg before. And when the same ball, he releases a bit slower, gets the batsman to play forward, it spins more. That is an art, how the spinner deceives the batsmen in the air with variation in pace.
“His fingers move beautifully on the ball to give it a rip, whatever qualities a classical left-arm spinner usually has, he has got them all.”
Hailing from the border city of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, to make an instant impact at the international level is quite impressive. Despite cricket facilities being not the same as the big metros, the left-arm spinner rose through the ranks through sheer hard work. As per his state coach, Suthar is another product of the 10,000-hour rule of dedicated, deliberate practice.
“Whatever discussions I had with him, Manav said he has always loved bowling. In the cricket academy in Ganganagar where Dheeraj Sharma was the coach, he used to bowl long hours—20 to 30 overs—which helped develop muscle memory.”
India’s spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule said that the young bowler is like a banker for the team with his consistency.
“He’s very accurate; his trajectories are just getting better and better, puts in a lot on the ball, the revs are good, and he is somebody who’s like a banker for us, consistently being in the lengths which we want,” said Bahutule at Friday’s media interaction.
For the India coach, the bowler has a good understanding of his craft and it will be important to keep it simple. “We keep it very simple, to be honest, not complicate things and work on his strengths.”
From here on, it will be about helping the player understanding how to adapt to different conditions and plan against different batters. “What we try to do is see how we can get that awareness of bowling in different conditions, different pitches, different batters, left-hand, right-hand, what is the need at that particular time, what would be the most effective way and what will be the ideal fields.”
Along with his skills, Rajasthan coach Jain said Suthar’s attitude helps him. “The most important thing is attitude. What I have understood of him in the last four-five years, his attitude is always about how he can help the team win. This is what makes him stand out from other players.”
“I remember when he was playing Ranji Trophy and I requested him to play for the Under-23 team, he gracefully accepted and single-handedly helped us win the away match (pre-quarterfinal against Madhya Pradesh). No matter the level, he just wants to perform and win the match for the team.”
