Spinner Manav Suthar is the biggest positive as India look to revive WTC campaign

Manav Suthar. Pic/BCCI

The emergence of Manav Suthar as a potentially bankable spinner was the biggest takeaway from the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, where India crushed Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs on Day Three of the one-off Test on Monday.

The retirement of R Ashwin nearly 18 months ago has left a gaping, 537 wickets-sized hole in the Test ranks. Ravindra Jadeja, the off-spinner's long-standing partner-in-crime, is 37 and even though the left-arm spinner is among the fittest, it's safe to say that he doesn't have more than a couple of years, at best, left in him.

Suthar's barnstorming debut has triggered the hope that, in due course, he will establish himself as the spearhead of the spin attack. He is only 23, but already has an impressive volume of work - 30 first-class games, 136 wickets, seven fifers.

That he transitioned seamlessly into Test cricket, with 6-33 in his first bowl, is testament to his skill and temperament. As India resume their World Test Championship commitments in August in Sri Lanka, Suthar will fancy his chances of being the third cog in the spinning wheel alongside Jadeja and the understated and underrated Washington Sundar.

Halfway through their WTC campaign, India have left themselves with much to do. They have just four wins from nine Tests, and with as many Tests lined up in the second half, including four overseas (two in New Zealand, followed by five at home against Australia), must pull up their socks pronto. Finalists in the first two editions, India are a modest sixth in the qualification race and have to embark on a winning spree if they are to prove that the 2023-25 cycle, when they failed to make the title round, was an aberration.

Their task is anything but straightforward. India haven't lost a series in Sri Lanka since 2008, but their vulnerabilities against spin, which is bound to be a huge factor in the teardrop island, have been exposed by Mitchell Santner and Simon Harmer in the last 20 months. India need a minimum of seven wins to guarantee a place in the final, so far out of reach right now that they can only look at the immediate, which is a fourth straight series triumph in Sri Lanka. If nothing else, it will be a start, at the very least.

Six
India's current position in the World Test Championship standings