Former India spinner Murali Kartik said that left-arm spinner Manav Suthar must avoid feeling anxious as he prepares for his first-ever tour with the senior India team. He had made his debut during the one-off Test against Afghanistan, and retained his place for the upcoming two-match away Test series against Sri Lanka as well.

“Suthar has to ensure that he doesn’t get anxious. The good thing is that he recently bowled with the Kookaburra ball which has a flatter seam in Sri Lanka for India ‘A’. He will need to rein himself in at times,” Murali Kartik told the Times of India.

“For me, it’s important that Kuldeep is fresh. Because a lot of his bowling depends on his action because a lot goes into it. If he is fresh then, he will have the momentum going towards the batter. Suthar is like a breath of fresh air. Even against Afghanistan, he looked so good even with Kuldeep and Washington bowling from the other end,” he again shared.

READ HERE: Shubman Gill Breaks Silence On ODI Futures Of Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli

Team India have added some new faces in their spin department after Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement midway through the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Although they have played 12 Tests since then, veteran spinner Kuldeep Yadav has only played five Tests so far, as Washington Sundar has often been preferred for his all-round ability.

“It will be an important series for Kuldeep. Everyone expected that the baton would pass smoothly once Ashwin left. It hasn’t quite happened yet. Jadeja is in the fag end of his career. So, it will be exciting to see how Kuldeep and Manav Suthar, who has been seen as the one to carry India’s spin bowling forward, go about it. It will be completely up to him (Kuldeep) to find a way to balance it between his batting and bowling. He is a capable Test batter. He had shown it against England at home,” Murali Kartik concluded.