South Africa's Senuran Muthusamy slammed a potentially match-defining century on the second day of the Guwahati Test. PTI
Senuran Muthusamy endured a forgettable Test debut in India when South Africa visited the country in 2019 under Faf du Plessis. While South Africa were blanked 3-0 by Virat Kohli-led India, Muthusamy's only "notable" performance was a first-innings 33 no. in Visakhapatnam. Across two Tests, the left-arm spinner claimed just two wickets.
Over the next six years, Muthusamy has appeared in just eight Tests with five of them coming in the last 13 months. The last three Tests have been particularly memorable for him; the 31-year-old all-rounder was man of the series in South Africa's drawn Test series against Pakistan, bagging 11 wickets and scoring 89. He didn't make the cut for the Kolkata Test but upon being drafted in Guwahati, slammed a potentially match-defining century (109, 206b, 10x4, 2x6) on the second day of the second Test here on Sunday.
"Yeah, it's fantastic, especially having come through to India in 2019 and we lost the series pretty badly," Muthusamy said at the end of day's play. "I've gone back to domestic cricket and I've managed to work my way back into the national set-up and I'm just really grateful for the opportunity to be in India and to put in a performance like that in the first innings is an awesome experience. It's fantastic."
When asked how special the knock was given his Indian heritage, Muthusamy said: "Yeah, of course, I'm of Indian heritage, but that was quite a few generations ago. But, yeah, I'm very, very grateful for the opportunity to play in this Test match after not playing the first one."
The Durban-born cricketer traces his origins to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.
It's not easy being a spinner in South Africa, where conditions aren't as favourable as in the sub-continent but after his outing in India, Muthusamy said, he thought he would never play Test cricket again.
"It's tough being a spinning all-rounder in South Africa," he noted. "Conditions are a lot different (compared) to the subcontinent. But when we get an opportunity to come to the subcontinent, we really look forward to it. My journey's been unique. Got a taste of international cricket in 2019 in India, went back into the wilderness a little bit. Cricket is such a journey that you just try to take it one day at a time. You try not to think too far ahead. But yeah, there were times, especially after 2019, where I wasn't sure if I'd ever play Test cricket again and certainly not in India after we lost that series."