Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar rewrote record books on his Test debut. On June 8, Suthar claimed a six-wicket haul, the second-best bowling figures by an Indian bowler on Test debut. The 23-year-old ended up breaking the 46-year-old record for best bowling figures by an Indian left-arm bowler on Test debut. The previous record belonged to Dilip Doshi who bagged six wickets for 103 runs against Australia in a drawn Test in September 1979 in Chennai.
Among Indian bowlers, Suthar is only second to Narendra Hirwani who took eight wickets in both innings of his Test debut against West Indies in January 1988.
Suthar’s 6 for 33 is also the fourth-best bowling figures by a left-arm spinner on Test debut. The top spot is occupied by West Indies' Alf Valentine who took eight wickets for 104 runs against England in June 1950. He broke the record of England's James Langridge who took seven wickets for 56 runs against West Indies in July 1933. England's Tom Hartley is in the third spot with seven wickets for 62 runs against India in January 2024.
Indian bowlers with 5 or more wickets on Test debut
Suthar also joined the elite list of Indian bowlers who have taken five wickets or more on Test debut. The first Indian bowler to achieve the feat was Mohammad Nissar with 5 for 93 against England at Lord's in June 1932. After independence, Vaman Kumar was the first with 5 for 64 against Pakistan in February 1961. More than six years later, Syed Abid Ali took six wickets for 55 runs against Australia in Adelaide. After Doshi in 1979 and Hirwani in 1988, Amit Mishra became the first do it for India in 21st century. Mishra took 4 for 71 against Australia in October 2008. In November 2011, Ravichandran Ashwin entered the list with 6 for 47 against West Indies. Exactly two years later, Mohammad Shami took 4 for 47 against West Indies at his homeground. Before Suthar, the latest entrant on the list was Axar Patel who claimed 5 for 60 against England in February 2021.
Suthar’s wickets in debut Test innings
Suthar took three wickets each on Day 2 and Day 3. His maiden Test wicket was Abdul Malik. Later in the day, he got rid of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Afsar Zazai too. On Day 3, he got the wickets of Rahmat Shah, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Mohammad Saleem Safi.