Suthar has claimed 23 wickets in his first three Tests for India.
Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik expressed shock over Manav Suthar's exclusion from India's Test squad for the New Zealand tour, calling him one of the team's best red-ball find of the season.
Suthar took 23 wickets in his first three Tests, including 16 wickets during India's 1-0 series win over Sri Lanka in August, alongside scoring 79 lower-order runs.
However, selectors decided to ignore him and went with a three-spin attack consisting of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar.
Kartik stated that he was in disbelief upon seeing the squad list, noting how Suthar ticks all the boxes in the red-ball format.
"It's a tough one for me, to be very honest, because when I saw the squads, I was shocked myself. Manav Suthar has been the find of the season, especially post-Ashwin, we have been searching for a Test match bowler. And the most important thing is the rationale which is used behind not picking Kuldeep sometimes is that he is not as good a bat as others," Kartik said in a select media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network.
"But Manav Suthar fits that bill too. And more importantly, take the batting away. I don't even look at somebody as a batter. Yes, you do want to contribute handy runs, especially in the modern version of the game, because you don't want any guys who cannot bat. But the most important thing is Manav Suthar has been the best bowler on view in the Test matches that we've had of late," he added.
According to Kartik, even if India preferred all-rounders or specialist spinner Kuldeep, they could have easily included Suthar as an extra player in the squad given his stellar wicket-taking form.
"I was massively surprised that he has not been picked. So, I don't know the logic. It's not as if they cannot take one extra player. And also, most importantly, he's your wicket-taking bowler. Kuldeep Yadav is a wicket-taking bowler, but again, Kuldeep Yadav is a very different story," Kartik remarked.
Reports indicate the selectors may be shielding Manav Suthar's workload to keep him primed for future assignments like the high-stakes Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home earlier next year.
India’s Test squad for New Zealand tour: Shubman Gill [C], Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul [VC], Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant [WK]*, Dhruv Jurel [WK], Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Note: *Subject to fitness clearance