On Day 3 of the first Test against Sri Lanka, young left-arm spinner Manav Suthar delivered an excellent performance and finished with figures of 4 for 76. He helped bowl the hosts out for 284 and secure a commanding 178-run first-innings lead. Speaking in the press after play, the 24-year-old said that he wanted to stick to the plans and also credited the Sri Lankan batters for playing well in the second session. Suthar came into the attack in the eighth over of Sri Lanka’s innings, he struck with his very first delivery. A well-flighted ball on a good length drifted in, turned away sharply, and took the glove of Dinesh Chandimal as he departed for 4 and Sri Lanka were 27 for 2.
“We wanted to stick to our plans of first session, ball was turning in all sessions and they played really well in second session. There wasn’t much change in our approach. There were some umpire calls also… they rotated the strike really well. The ball didn’t get that soft.” Suthar told the reporters on Monday
India started the morning with a clear plan after being bowled out for 462, built around Devdutt Padikkal’s 167, KL Rahul’s 82 and Dhruv Jurel’s 51. The plan was to bowl in good areas, attack the stumps and let the Galle surface do the rest. Mohammed Siraj had already removed Nishan Madusha cheaply in the opening over. Suthar then accounted for Lahiru Udara, who mistimed a cut against extra bounce and was caught at point or gully by Yashasvi Jaiswal for 27. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja continued to put pressure and by lunch Sri Lanka were struggling at 99 for 5.
Manav Suthar praises Ravindra Jadeja after spinner reaches 350 Test wickets against Sri Lanka
Manav Suthar also had huge admiration for Jadeja. He says that learning about bowling alongside the veteran spinner has already begun, and he is a huge fan of the consistency that the Indian all-rounder bowls with. Jadeja finished with 3 for 57 and reached the landmark of 350 Test wickets after dismissing Dinusha lbw shortly after the century.
"For example, he can bowl on the same spot. His consistency is world-class. So I would like to learn from him that no matter what the batsman is doing, how long can you bowl on the same spot? How you can make them play a false shot? So there's a lot to learn," Suthar told reporters on Monday.
Sri Lanka’s resistance came in the second session. Sonal Dinusha, scoring his maiden Test century (100 off 168 balls), and Niroshan Dickwella (80) put on a valuable 146-run partnership for the sixth wicket. They rotated the strike intelligently, used the sweep effectively, and frustrated the Indian attack as the ball softened. Prasidh Krishna produced a beauty with an older ball to dismiss Dickwella. Sri Lanka were eventually all out for 284. Rain brought an early close as India did not get the chance to bat, but the visitors are going into the fourth day firmly in control.
