New Chandigarh, June 7 (IANS) Batting great Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on debutant left-arm spinner Manav Suthar after the youngster played a key role in putting India firmly in control of the one-off Test against Afghanistan at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.

Gavaskar was particularly impressed by Suthar’s all-round contribution, noting that the spinner had looked assured with both bat and ball.

“Manav Suthar has certainly made an impressive start to his Test career. What stood out was not just his bowling, but also the confidence he showed with the bat, particularly in the way he used his feet and looked comfortable at the crease,” Gavaskar told Jio Hotstar.

“With the ball, he was extremely accurate and consistently put the batters under pressure. There was some assistance available from the surface, which he utilised well, but the real test for any spinner comes on flatter pitches where greater variety and adaptability are required,” he added.

The former India captain, however, felt Suthar had shown enough promise to suggest he could develop into a strong option in the longer format.

“Having said that, this was a highly encouraging debut and he has shown the attributes to be a strong contender at the Test level going forward,” he noted.

Suthar struck crucial blows in Afghanistan’s innings, removing Abdul Malik, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Afsar Zazai, while maintaining excellent control and extracting assistance from the surface.

Gavaskar also praised fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, who claimed 2-27 and accounted for Sediqullah Atal and Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi.

“Prasidh Krishna showed excellent awareness and adaptability in the way he approached his spell. As a fast bowler, the natural instinct is often to operate on a shorter length and use bounce to trouble batters, but he recognised the conditions and adjusted accordingly,” Gavaskar said.

“By pitching the ball much fuller, he was able to generate movement back into the left-handers and create genuine wicket-taking opportunities. Both his wickets came as a result of that adjustment, one through a clean-bowled dismissal and the other via LBW.

“It was a good example of a bowler understanding the conditions, moving away from his natural tendencies, and executing a plan effectively,” he added.

Earlier, India were powered by centuries from captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul before Washington Sundar’s unbeaten 52 helped the hosts declare at 564/8, setting up a dominant position in the match.

–IANS

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