Picture credits – BCCI
Who is Senuran Muthusamy? What was the first impression of watching this cricketer? For that, yours truly has to take up the name of his former colleague, Sidhant Maheshwari. This former text commentator had a habit of reciting the names of the players aloud in relation to executing backend work.
Probably, around a decade ago, he took up the name, Muthusamy, while adding this player to a website from the backend. While hearing the name for the first time, you pondered, ‘Who could be this first-class cricketer from India? Is he Muthuswamy or Muthusamy?’ My former colleague himself cleared the confusion by observing that he is a South African cricketer.
When Muthusamy held his arms aloft to celebrate his maiden Test hundred in Guwahati, one couldn’t help but recall this intriguing flashback from the storehouse of memories. But a part of the question remains unanswered. Who is Muthusamy? Around seven years ago, there is a recollection of him spinning a web around Warriors’ batters with a six-for, via YouTube highlights, in South Africa’s domestic cricket. Honestly, he didn’t spin the ball much, but with a rather round-arm action, his control seemed to be good as he brought the batters more on to the front foot with his fullish and good-length deliveries.
That ’17-18 season was akin to a watershed moment for this Clifton-schooled cricketer as he also cracked a knock of 181 versus Knights. Around a year later, he was already a South African Test cricketer. During South Africa’s disastrous campaign in India in 2019, he chipped in with useful scores down the order in Vizag, though his bowling ability looked rather modest. The memories of picking up his only wicket from that Test, Virat Kohli, might just echo in the all-rounder’s mind for a long time to come.
South Africa A, who had also arrived on Indian shores, played List A games and first-class games against India A. Muthusamy, who played in those first-class matches, didn’t have a good time either with the bat or ball, and soon found himself out of the national reckoning. However, one of your first impressions needn’t always be the best one.
With Shukri Conrad helming the coaching staff, he brought Muthusamy back into the Test set-up. The all-rounder straightaway made a contribution with an unbeaten 68 in Bangladesh. Then came an even bigger contribution – An unbeaten 89 versus Pakistan in the Rawalpindi Test this year. At one point, South Africa were in trouble at 235 for 8, and it was his knock that turned the tables and powered South Africa to a match-winning score.
In that same series, he also had a defining moment with the ball in hand, bagging 11 wickets in a Test in Lahore. It was once again his noteworthy control that stood out on a pitch that assisted spin. Just a month later, his hundred in the Guwahati Test might just be enough to pilot South Africa to their first Test series victory in India in the last 25 years.
So, how does Muthusamy go about scoring his runs in Asian conditions? What makes him a fine player in spin-friendly climes in the subcontinent? One of the features of his batting is clearly his ability to pick the length early. This trait helps him to play late, giving him a little more time to defend or attack against spin.
And just like an archetypal modern-day batter, he plays the slog-sweep and reverse-sweep quite well while facing spin. He showcased his penchant for those shots in Guwahati against Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav.
More importantly, the spinning all-rounder encapsulated his temperament right through the innings. At one point, South Africa were 247 for 6. It felt as if India might just bundle out South Africa for a score of around 300 on a very slow wicket. But just like we witnessed in Rawalpindi, it turned out to be: cometh the hour, cometh Muthusamy.
Muthusamy perfectly fits the bill of Conrad’s horses-for-courses picks. And he is the same cricketer who momentarily made this writer rack his brains as to where he plays in Indian domestic cricket. As it turned out, he is of Tamil heritage but a South African cricketer. Incidentally, members of his extended family are still residing in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu.
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