Left-armer Manav Suthar's emergence as the flag-bearer of India's spin attack in the foreseeable future was the biggest gain for the hosts in their expectedly dominant innings and 300 runs victory over Afghanistan in the one-off Test here on Monday.
After being bowled out for 152 in the first innings, courtesy a 6/33 from Suthar, Afghanistan fared much worse in the second essay getting bundled out for 112 in 35.5 overs midway into the third day to hand India their biggest innings win.
Washington Sundar (4/36) did the star turn in the second innings while Kuldeep Yadav (3/30) also helped himself to some easy pickings.
In 2018, India had thrashed the Afghans by an innings and 260 runs but the visitors would take solace that they could stretch this Test into the third day.
The match belonged to Suthar, a left-arm orthodox spinner from Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar.
He became the 10th Indian bowler to take a five-for on debut with his overall haul of seven wickets (6/33 and 1/29) but more importantly, he answered the lingering question in country's cricketing ecosystem: "Who will take over the baton from Ravindra Jadeja as and when he calls time?"
After the match against Afghanistan, Suthar showed all the requisite attributes to succeed at the highest level. The biggest among them being the consistency of landing the ball in the same spot.
Add the speed at which he bowls and the number of revolutions that he imparts while putting his whole body behind each delivery, Suthar is a complete package.
India have had bowlers who were wicket-takers on turners but the 23-year-old has shown that he can be a match-winner on placid surfaces by extracting both turn and bounce.
With Ravichandran Ashwin already retired and Jadeja in the twilight of his Test career, Suthar's emergence couldn't have happened at a better time.
He will face a far bigger Test in Sri Lanka where the quality of batting will be way better but the Indian team management can think of slowly phasing Jadeja out by the end of this World Test Championship cycle.
There isn't not much to write about Afghanistan's batting which lacked skill as well as experience.
Indian spinners benefitted from some atrocious shot selection by the visiting batters throughout the second innings.
After being shot out for 152, they played too many strokes that brought about their downfall in the second innings.
Left-handed opener Sediqullah Atal (42), who was signed by Delhi Capitals in this year, was dismissed off the last ball before tea as he tried to hit Washington against the turn and offered a simple catch to Mohammed Siraj at backward point.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (24) wanted to hit his way out of the trouble before Shubman Gill placed Siraj at the long-on boundary asking Kuldeep to lure him for an aerial shot.
The move paid off immediately as Gurbaz was holed out at long-on.
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A similar thing happened with first innings half centurion Rahmat Shah (13), who wanted to loft Washington over mid-off but couldn't clear the man of the moment, Suthar.
It was a pity that barely 500 odd people were present in the stands on Monday morning when the country's newest spin bowling star completed a rare milestone, becoming the 10th Indian to take five wicket-haul on debut.
He was also the seventh spinner to reach the landmark in his maiden Test.
His final first innings figures read 22-10-33-6 which also showed the kind of relentless pressure he put on inexperienced Afghan batters, none of whom looked comfortable while trying to defend him.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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