Jaipur: When Manav Suthar went unsold at the IPL auction ahead of the 2023 season, disappointment was natural. The left-arm spinner had put together a stellar domestic run, taking 39 wickets in six Ranji Trophy matches in 2022-23, and hoped a franchise contract would provide another platform to showcase his craft.But there were enough signs to tell him that his efforts were not going unnoticed.That year brought a Duleep Trophy call-up and a place in the India A squad for the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup, where he finished with 10 wickets in five matches.Fast-forward to the present and the 24-year-old from Rajasthan is the talk of the town after spinning India to a dominant 165-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle. Suthar finished with 10 wickets in the match — four in the first innings and six in the second — to underline why he has long been considered one of the most exciting left-arm spin prospects in the country. The years spent grinding away on the domestic circuit have undeniably begun to pay off.Suthar’s journey towards the senior India side had, in fact, begun much earlier. His first significant exposure to the national set-up came in February 2019, when he made his India Under-19 debut in the first ‘Youth Test’ against South Africa Under-19 in Thiruvananthapuram.With Rahul Dravid then overseeing the youth programme, Suthar returned four wickets in the match, including 3/44 in the second innings, as India won by nine wickets.It was in such environments that his ability to extract bite from the surface while retaining control began to attract attention. When VVS Laxman took over as head of the National Cricket Academy in 2021, Suthar’s progress continued to be closely tracked.According to his long-time coach in Sri Ganganagar, Dheeraj Sharma, Laxman’s interest went beyond merely keeping an eye on the numbers.Sharma recalled how Laxman had alerted then chief selector Chetan Sharma.“Laxman had told Chetan Sharma that ‘he is a very good spinner, do watch him’. So he came specially to watch,” Dheeraj said.That visit could hardly have been better timed. When Chetan travelled to Jodhpur to watch Suthar in Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh in January 2023, the youngster produced the kind of all-round performance that makes a selector take notice.He remained unbeaten on 64 in Rajasthan’s first innings before claiming 10 wickets in the match.For a young left-arm orthodox spinner coming through at a time when India have naturally begun considering their options for the years beyond Ravindra Jadeja, Suthar’s skill set has made him particularly intriguing.Dheeraj, who has worked with him since his early days, had long impressed upon his ward that his greatest strength lay in being different.“I always used to tell him that his skill set is not present in any other left-arm orthodox spinner. That skill is now part of his muscle memory,” he said.
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