GUWAHATI: It's funny how these things work out in the end, eh?
In 2019, after Senuran Muthusamy made his Test debut in India, he was in danger of slipping through the cracks. An underwhelming return of two wickets at 90 apiece and 98 runs across two Tests -- to be fair, it was a forgettable series for a lot of his colleagues as well -- meant the spinning all-rounder wasn't picked again.
From the end of 2019 to September 2025, he had featured in three more games. This is of course not a surprise. Life as a South African spinner is hard work, especially when you know Keshav Maharaj is the undisputed No. 1 and there's generally no place for a No. 2.
This pattern finally changed when Muthusamy, who has over 275 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 28, was picked for the away tour to Pakistan last month. With Maharaj still recovering, the spinning all-rounder excelled with bat and ball to win the Player of the Series.
Sunday, though, was the apogee of his still nascent Test career, at least from a batting perspective. In his eighth Test, Muthusamy, back in the land of his ancestors (originally from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu), displayed different facets of his batting to notch his first Test 100.
It was an innings filled with patience but one with a proper strategy. With India opting for defensive fields on Day Two, the left-hander knew all he had to do was milk the spinners on a still unresponsive surface. So he focused on dabbing the ball into the vacant spaces behind and in front of square either side of the wicket. In all, most of his 43 singles came in these two directions.
In fact, till deep into the innings, he had scored no runs in the V either side of the stumps down the ground. It's reflective of where the bowlers bowled to him — out of the 66 runs he scored on the leg-side, only nine came in the long-on region — but it was an innings the visitors needed at that point in time of the game when the Test was very much in the balance.
Across three sessions and two days sandwiched by the second new ball, he not only added runs but also took time from the game. Now, on a wearing pitch, Muthusamy he bowler will look to complement the likes of Maharaj and Simon Harmer over the next few days.
Skipper Temba Bavuma, who sat out the Pakistan series with an injury, wrote this about the spinner on ESPN. "Sen was a well-deserved Man of the Series against Pakistan," he wrote. "He contributed with the ball in the first Test and the bat in the second... the way he's come into the team, he's really bolstered our resources from both a batting and bowling perspective. He took 11 wickets and scored 106 runs, but he's an unassuming character; he's not loud and gets his job done. Whenever the opportunity is there, he tries to grab it with both hands. I'm sure the guys would have celebrated hard for a bloke like Sen.
"What we have been able to do well and something which has served us, is selecting based on character rather than simply basing it on stats. Character is a big thing for us as a team and everything we do, we do it for each other. It's knowing you have individuals, who on their day will make the play for the team."
Muthusamy, who did wonder if Test cricket had passed him by post that India series in 2019, is one of the many characters Bavuma alluded to. The 31-year-old doesn't complain, puts work ethic ahead of everything else and focuses on being the best version of himself.
He knows there can be no other alternative, especially because he plays a role that has seldom existed within the lexicon of South Africa's red-ball game. That of a spinning all-rounder.
Over the next three days, he has the chance to etch himself in their folklore. It's funny how these things may work out, eh?