RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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'Got the ability': Is Manav Suthar the solution to India's all-Rounder crisis vs. Sri Lanka in Galle? originally appeared on Cricket News .
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
India's all-rounder crisis, triggered by injuries to Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar, has opened the door for Manav Suthar.
The Rajasthan spinner picked up six wickets on his Test debut against Afghanistan and has strong first-class batting numbers too.
Captain Shubman Gill has publicly backed Suthar's potential as a genuine number eight batter heading into the Galle Test.
Can Manav Suthar deliver on the expectations of Shubman Gill in Galle?
Every crisis throws up an opportunity for somebody, and right now that somebody looks a lot like Manav Suthar.
India's Test set-up under Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir has leaned on all-rounders even in home conditions, but with Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar both sidelined through injury, the team's had to go searching in territory it hadn't really planned for.
Before the Afghanistan Test, the selectors were weighing up Suthar against Harsh Dubey as extra spin cover alongside India's regular slow bowlers. Suthar got the nod, and what followed was about as good a start as anyone could've scripted.
He struck in his very first over, getting Abdul Malik to sky a sweep off a delivery that bounced more than expected. Not long after, he found the edge of Rahmanullah Gurbaz's bat with one that turned away just enough. By the time the innings wrapped up, he'd taken six wickets on his debut, showing off exactly the kind of control, patience and variation Test cricket demands.
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BCCI/Creimas
Why is Suthar being considered as India's all-rounder solution?
Suthar walks into this squad with a first-class hundred and over a thousand runs from 51 innings already banked.
Just last week, in the warm-up fixture against SLC XI, he faced 90 balls for a fighting 41. Only Devdutt Padikkal and Ravindra Jadeja spent longer at the crease that day.
India had already handed Saransh Jain a squad spot as a direct like-for-like replacement for Sundar, matching his left-hand bat and right-arm off-spin skill set. But going by everything Gill said in the pre-match press conference, it's Suthar who seems to have the captain's backing for that third spinner-cum-all-rounder role.
"He's got the ability with the bat. Of course, you need a bit of experience, you need some belief and confidence. And that will only come once you're out there, you're playing, you score some runs," Gill said.
"And hopefully he does that in the series. He's someone with great skill with bowling. And he's got the potential to be a really good number eight batsman as well."
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Long before any of this international buzz, Suthar had already carved out a solid name for himself on the domestic circuit.
His action is textbook, and he leans heavily on control paired with variation, which isn't the easiest combination to find. His Rajasthan coach, Anshu Jain, rates his arm ball especially highly.
“He has a very good arm ball. If he gets a pitch that offers even a little bit of assistance, he becomes deadly," Jain told News18 Cricket .
Creimas/BCCI
Now or never for Suthar against Sri Lanka in Galle
Here's the thing about all-rounder crises: they usually get solved by someone the team wasn't originally banking on, and that's exactly what's playing out with Suthar.
Six wickets on debut isn't a fluke; it's proof he can read conditions and adapt fast, which matters more in Tests than raw pace or spin. Add in the fact he's already shown he can occupy the crease for 90-odd balls under pressure, and you've got a genuine skill set that fits India's current gap far better than a straight swap for Sundar ever could.
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Gill's public backing reads like a real vote of confidence, and rightly so. India don't need another off-spinner who bats a bit; they need a bowler who can also bat with intent lower down the order, buying time for the tail and adding runs nobody was expecting.
Suthar looks built for exactly that job, and if Galle's bounce really does play like Mumbai, his control and variation should travel well. This looks less like an experiment and more like India stumbling onto their next long-term all-rounder. Now, Suthar has to vindicate the faith shown in him with an impressive output in Galle.
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