With his six-wicket haul in Afghanistan’s first innings, debutant Manav Suthar impressed all and sundry in the Mullanpur Test. India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who has spent time with Suthar at India A in recent years, lauded the left-arm spinner’s effort and said he knew that the 23-year-old would play for India one day.
“He (Manav Suthar) bowled really well. Suthar is a very bright prospect and it was a great opportunity for him. He has been performing well at different levels in the last 3-4 years,” Kotak said at the press conference after India’s record innings win.
“The way he bowled for India A, anybody would say he is very talented and consistent. Since I have seen him for a long time, I knew he would play for India.”
Suthar’s figures of 6 for 33 were the third best by any Indian bowler in an innings on debut. Meanwhile, India’s victory by an innings and 300 runs on Monday surpassed their previous mark of winning by an innings and 288 runs against West Indies at Rajkot in 2018.
The hosts had posted a first-innings total of 564 for 8 declared, with captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul hitting a hundred each apart from half-centuries by Sai Sudharsan and Rishabh Pant.
‘Why would anybody tell Pant how to bat?’
Prior to the match, India head coach Gautam Gambhir had talked about how Pant needs to play according to match situations without curbing his attacking style of play in normal conditions. Pant played a 121-ball knock of 81 runs during India’s innings and Kotak was asked about what talk the team management had with Pant.
The coach spoke on how the batters need to play as per the team’s needs. “I don’t feel Rishabh alone has to play according to match situations. Sai Sudharshan, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul will all play differently. Me, Gautam and other support staff tell them to play their game freely.
“But the only thing is that if the team requires something specific in red-ball cricket. At that time, whoever the batsman is, or even bowler or all-rounder, they need to play according to the team’s needs. That’s what the discussion is about,” said Kotak.
Pant had essayed his knock with a strike rate of 66.94 and perished while trying to play an attacking shot against Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi. Kotak felt the 28-year-old could have hit a double hundred too, given the way he batted.
“Rishabh hit three sixes also in an over. He batted the way he wanted to bat. I don’t think there was any question of the situation. He is such a big player; why would anybody tell him to play like this or that?
“I had said during the England tour that he reads bowlers well. He tries to play with the bowler’s mind and will do something the bowler is not expecting. His innings was very good. He missed out on a hundred, or maybe even a double hundred,” said the batting coach.
The one-off Test against Afghanistan happened just days after the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded and with most of the players in the Gill-led team coming to this Test after playing in the IPL, the side had its challenges. When asked how the coaching staff dealt with that and what the team has worked on for red-ball cricket this year, Kotak shared that the batting unit had talks with coaching staff and was working on specific aspects.
“The challenge was to get into red-ball mode quickly, in four-five practice sessions. We discussed certain things in Guwahati also.
“In England, I think our batters handled pacers really well. In the South Africa series, we could have done better. I don’t agree with a lot of people saying our batters struggled against spin. But we did not perform according to our potential. One observes things in every game and we are trying to work on that,” Kotak signed off.
