CHENNAI: Manav Suthar is the talk of Indian cricket. The left-arm spinner, playing for India C, took record figures of 7/49 in the second innings — best by anyone on Duleep Trophy debut — helping his team beat India D in Anantapur last week. While the 22-year-old from Rajasthan is highly rated among the fraternity as one for the future, his impressive show in the opening round of Duleep Trophy comes after the hard work he put in over the last couple of months.
About a week after the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) got over, Suthar, who played one match for Gujarat Titans, was in Chennai, turning up for Grand Slam CC in the TNCA I Division Raja of Palayampatti Shield. As he did in the Duleep Trophy, Suthar did not take long to make an impression. In their very first match against Vijay CC, Suthar took 8/67, giving immense confidence, not just to himself, but also to his teammates and coach Palani Amarnath.
"It was a brilliant spell," recalls Amarnath. "We wanted to sign him last year but he said he will not be available for the second half, which coincides with IPL. For us, it is crucial to have our main players during that stage of the tournament. Last year, he was not available but this year, we signed him. A bowler like that will be impactful for any team, but for us, we did not have an experienced left-arm spinner — B Aaditya is an up-and-coming spinner.
That (spell against Vijay CC) was a massive confidence boost; that he could make a difference for us," the former Tamil Nadu cricketer adds.
For Suthar, the objective was simple. To get as much match-time as possible and bowl long spells. That is exactly what he did. In four matches, he sent down 144.5 overs and took 18 wickets while bowling over 25 overs in four of the six innings. The way he gave his everything for Grand Slam CC left an impression on Amarnath.
"Despite being an outstation player, he took most of the workload and it was clear that he was going to play his cricket like this wherever he went. His efforts to bowl better on such wickets and plans were visible. More than us signing him for our needs, he had come for bowling experience on patta wickets, setting fields and was keen on learning. Not many do that," says Amarnath.
After the four games in Chennai, he attended a skill camp at the National Cricket Academy, working with former India cricketer Sairaj Bahutule. All this experience came in handy when he took the field against aggressive batters like Shreyas Iyer, Devdutt Padikkal and Axar Patel. A classical left-arm spinner with repeatable action, Suthar needed his time to adjust on a surface that aided pacers, especially on Day One.
While he was bowling in the early 90KPHs during the first innings, Suthar soon realised the need to slow down and focus on not giving any bad balls to Axar who was trying to take him on. "I was focusing on how I can deceive the batters in flight or get some turn from the wicket," says Suthar. "I started slowing down so that I can get some purchase off the pitch, give some flight and deceive the batter. I varied the pace and focused on it. In the second innings, it was about making the most of the help I got from the pitch. Axar bhai was batting well and I didn't want to bowl any loose balls and keep hitting the good balls," he adds.
The wickets came in a cluster in the second innings as Suthar removed Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, KS Bharat and Axar one after another. Padikkal, who scored a fifty, looked set for a big score, but Suthar had his plan to counter the Karnataka left-hander. "For left-handers, I got some help from footmarks. It was a little out, so I was bowling fast into it so that the batter doesn't have much time like Padikkal even if he went on back foot and should not have much time. That was the focus while using my arm ball in between once in a while."
It worked as the ball turned sharply off the footmarks, took Padikkal's gloves and lobbed towards Ruturaj Gaikwad at first slip. From thereon, he ran through the rest of the batting line-up, taking seven wickets. He even chipped in with a crucial 19 during the chase, helping India C get across the line.
While Suthar is happy about the recognition, all he wants to do is focus on contributing for the team and express himself on the field. "I am thinking about expressing myself, putting the team ahead and performing so that I can contribute as much as I can and help the team win," Suthar signed off.