Manav Suthar demolishes multiple records with stunning six-wicket haul on dream Test debut

Manav Suthar started his Test career with an exceptional six-wicket haul as he crushed the Afghanistan batting line-up in the one-off Test in New Chandigarh to help India take a mammoth 412-run lead in the first innings.

Bowling in Test cricket for the first time, Suthar finished with 6/33 in 22 overs with 10 maidens in his account. His figures helped India bowl Afghanistan out for a paltry 152 in reply of India's massive 564-run total. Captain Shubman Gill decided to enforce the follow-on thanks to the bumper lead.

The left-arm spinner had taken three wickets on the second day and added three more on the third finish with the best bowling figures for an Indian debutant in the 21st century. He created several records with his magical spell, that left Afghan batters bamboozled in the one-off Test.

Suthar's record-breaking debut

The 23-year-old from Rajasthan recorded the second-best figures ever for an Indian in maiden Test innings. Only leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani's iconic 8/61 in the 1988 Chennai Test against the West Indies ranks above him in this list.

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Suthar also became only the second bowler this century to take a five-wicket haul in debut Test innings, a feat only achieved by leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who had taken 5/71 against Australia in 2008. He also became only the seventh Indian spinner with five wickets on Test debut.

The left-arm spinner's figures of 6/33 are also the second-best bowling figures against Afghanistan in Test cricket after West Indies' Rahkeem Cornwall's 7/75 in Lucknow in 2019.

On the second day of the match, Suthar had a dream start to his Test career as he picked up the wicket of Abdul Malik in his first over, making him only the eighth Indian bowler, and the first since 2001, to strike in his maiden Test over.

Before starring with the ball, Suthar had also contributed with a stroke-filled 28 off 41 balls with the bat. He smashed two sixes and two fours in his debut Test innings to flex his all-round credentials.