A dream of many years for Manav Sothar finally became a reality on Saturday as the Rajasthan all-rounder earned his maiden India Test cap ahead of Milanpur’s only Test against Afghanistan at the Maharaja Yadavendra Singh International Cricket Stadium.In a special moment during the pre-match presentation, senior spinner Kuldeep Yadav donned the coveted Test cap, officially welcoming him to India’s Test fraternity.
Who is Manav Sothar?
Manav Sothar is a 23-year-old rising Indian cricketer who plays as a bowling all-rounder. A traditional slow left-arm orthodox spinner and handy lower-order batsman, Sothar represents Rajasthan in domestic cricket and is part of the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL). For Suthar, the occasion marks a remarkable rise from Rajasthan’s border town of Sriganganagar to the highest level of international cricket.The left-arm spinning all-rounder has long been seen as one of India’s brightest red-ball prospects. After Ravindra Jadeja was rested for the Afghanistan Test, the selectors have used the opportunity to give Sattar his debut as they assess India’s next generation of spin-bowling all-rounders.Sattar earned his first Test call-up after a string of impressive performances for domestic cricket and India A. It first gained national attention during 2022-23. Ranji Trophy The season ended as Rajasthan’s highest wicket-taker with 39 wickets in just six matches. Suther made his debut in international cricket with an impressive first-class record of 129 wickets and 945 runs in 29 matches. He has been an outstanding performer for India ‘A’. He became the joint-highest wicket-taker during the unofficial Test series against Australia ‘A’ (which included a haul of 5/107) and excelled in the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
Toss updates, India bat first.
After India won the toss against Afghanistan in Milanpur, captain Shubman Gul decided to bat first. The playing eleven for an off-test match is:India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shibman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (W), Dhruv Jural, Washington Sundar, Manav Sothar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Prasad KrishnaAfghanistan (Playing XI): Siddiqullah Atul, Rehmanullah Garbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Afsar Zazai (W), Azmatullah Umarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangyaliya Kharote, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Muhammad Saleem Safi.
