'Ravindra Jadeja's Upgraded Version': India Star Receives Huge Praise After Sri Lanka Heroics
It has been a great outing for India spinner Manav Suthar in the ongoing Test match against Sri Lanka as he played a big role in putting the visitors in a dominant position.
It has been a great outing for India spinner Manav Suthar in the ongoing Test match against Sri Lanka as he played a big role in putting the visitors in a dominant position. He was the star performer in the first innings as he took 4 wickets and on Tuesday, he picked up 2 wickets to deal a massive blow to Sri Lanka. Former India batter Aakash Chopra was extremely impressed with Suthar and considering the fact that he can bat well, he called the spinner an ungraded version of Ravindra Jadeja.
"I will say yes because he is a mighty guy. When he releases the ball, it drifts, bounces, and turns. He dismisses you while defending. When you can make the opposing batter lick dust while defending, and that too repeatedly, that tells you this guy has the might," Aakash Chopra said on YouTube.
"Along with that, he also bats, which means you can keep him in mind even in overseas conditions. I am seeing him as a successor to Ravindra Jadeja because Jaddu will go at some stage, and you will need somebody like him. If I look at him purely as a bowler, I think he is Jadeja's upgraded version," he added.
Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja praised young all-rounder Manav Suthar's bowling on day three of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, calling his spell's first-ever delivery which got him a wicket as a "left-arm spinner's dream ball".
A four-wicket haul from Suthar and completion of 350 Test wickets by Jadeja was the highlight of a spin-dominated day three of the Galle Test, which saw Sri Lanka put up a fight with a resilient knock from Niroshan Dickwella and a century from Sonal Dinusha, but everything around them seemed to be falling apart against Indian spinners.
Suthar's first delivery of his spell earned him the prized wicket of veteran Dinesh Chandimal, with the delivery generating sharp turn and bounce after drifting in, landing into the safe hands of wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Speaking in a video posted on BCCI's official website, Jadeja called the delivery a "dream ball" for a left-arm spinner and enjoyed watching the delivery personally.
"I saw you bowl for the first time in a Test match. The ball that was coming out of your hand was the very first ball. Actually, it was a very high-quality ball (that dismissed Chandimal). As a left-arm spinner, I watch a lot of things on TV," he said.
"But the live experience that I had, the first ball that came out of the hand and the revs on the ball, after seeing that, I felt that I got to see a proper left-arm spinner's dream ball," he added.
(With ANI inputs)
India Cricket Team
Sri Lanka Cricket Team
Ravindra Jadeja