Manav Suthar led the charge with the ball as he scalped three wickets on his India debut during the second day of the one-off Test against Afghanistan on Sunday, June 7. Suthar displayed his brilliance as he made the ball talk with his drift and spin, accounting for three Afghanistan batters after India made 564/8d batting first.
Suthar’s impressive debut
It was a pretty strong debut for left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Suthar, who made his way into the Indian side after a long domestic grind. He took three of the first five wickets to fall. Suthar claimed his maiden Test wicket after removing opener Abdul Malik in his very first over of his career.ย
Suthar troubled the batters with the ball spinning square as Malik went for a sweep but edged it near the fine leg. Mohammed Siraj took the catch after avoiding KL Rahul, who came inย his vision from slips.ย
Suthar got another wicket when he removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz, caught at slips with a ball that turned away from the right-hander as Sai Sudharsan took the low catch. He then got another one in the dying stages of the day when he caught and bowled Afsar Zazai as Afghanistan lost half of their side.
What record can Suthar create?
Meanwhile, Suthar is looking to join an elite list of players as he aims to make his debut more memorable. If he manages to pick a couple of more wickets, he will become just the third left-arm spinner for India to take a five-wicket haul on debut. Before him, only Dilip Joshi and Axar Patel have taken a fifer on debut.ย
Meanwhile, Suthar can become just the seventh Indian spinner with a fifer. Apart from these two, Narendra Hirwani, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vaman Kumar and Amit Mishra have taken a five-wicket haul.
Indian batters make merry as centuries pile up
Meanwhile, the Indian batters dominated the proceedings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur. Led by centuries from captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, the hosts piled up a huge 564/8d in the first innings. Rahul made 100, while Gill was dismissed for 126 as they continued their strong performances in the format.ย
Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar also scored impressive fifties. Sudharsan, who is set to get a long rope from team head coach Gautam Gambhir, made a strong 81, while Pant was dismissed for 81 too. Sundar made an unbeaten 52 before India declared their innings.
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