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Jagadeesha Suchith loves watching and playing football, as do most of his teammates and friends from the Karnataka circle. It's his favorite pastime outside cricket and helps him switch on when he gets back to his duties with the bat and the ball.
Yet, cricket is that 'one connect which will not go away' for Suchith and his friends. It's his first love after all, even as the seeds of him developing into a sportsperson began with a different sport altogether.
His father insisted on developing good stability via gymnastics. That's how Suchith's journey began at the prestigious University of Mysore, as a gymnast and a swimmer, before cricket became his calling. He admits that he wasn't keen on gymnastics initially, although he has realized the impact it has had on his game with time and credits his father for giving him that push.
"Actually I was a very naughty kid and I was very adamant in not going for gymnastics," says Suchith in a tell-all chat with Sportskeeda. "I didn't like gymnastics to be very honest but my father knew that this was going to help me going forward and I think it's now showing results."
Once he got into cricket, though, there was no looking back for Suchith despite a set of challenges along the way. As a young 21-year-old left-arm spinner who just made his debut in domestic cricket, he was thrust into the cauldron of the Wankhede Stadium in the Mumbai Indians' playing 11 for an IPL debut in 2015. That was his first real moment in the limelight.
A baptism by fire against a rampaging Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) beckoned. But with the wicket of Glenn Maxwell, followed by an unbeaten 21-ball 34 as part of a 100-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Harbhajan Singh, Suchith capped off a stellar debut even as MI came out on the wrong side of the result.
He remained a big part of the MI lineup which went on to arrest a four-match losing streak at the start of the tournament to lift the title, also featuring in the XI for the final. It was a massive high at the embroynic stage of his cricketing career, but there were some rough times that followed suit too.
"Every cricketer will have ups and downs. I saw a huge up winning the Karnataka Premier League, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the Ranji Trophy, the Irani Cup and the IPL, all in the span of six months in 2014-2015. After that, I saw a big dip in my cricketing career," says Suchith.
Now 30 and enriched with a host of experience in domestic cricket, Suchith remains a key component of whichever team he takes the field for. This was evident in the Mysore Warriors' return to glory in the recently concluded Maharaja Trophy 2024 as they bagged their first title after a gap of 10 years.
Bouncing back and proving a point has always been an attitude Suchith has carried. He credits his then girlfriend and now wife Lakshmi for being his rock and support system.
"If not for the support of my wife, I wouldn't have achieved what I've achieved today. I still remember in 2016 I was out of the Ranji Trophy squad, and I went back to playing U23 cricket after having already played two years of IPL cricket. I promised my wife that I'll come back again playing Ranji Trophy cricket for Karnataka. And I made a comeback into the Ranji Trophy setup in 2018 where I picked up 25 wickets in four games in the season," says Suchith.
"I've been able to hit sixes at will" - Jagadeesha Suchith on his Maharaja Trophy exploits
Bowling tight shutdown overs, chipping in with invaluable match-turning cameos, and saving runs while pulling off athletic catches - Suchith is the quintessential modern-day package. Each of these attributes played its part in the Warriors' triumph this season, but it was his batting in particular that stood out for someone who is a bowling all-rounder.
He always had the ability, but it was as if Suchith was aiming to launch the ball into the greenery of Cubbon Park this time. Towering sixes onto the roof of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium headlined his batting exploits.
Suchith puts this down to changes in terms of his power-specific exercises - something he worked upon with the Warriors' strength and conditioning coach Arjun Hoysala - as well as his batting technique that he worked on with head coach RX Murali.
"It's been a two-year-long journey where I've worked on power hitting specifically. Not only in white ball cricket,'I've been able to do that in our local league in red-ball cricket as well. I've been able to hit sixes at will. And I’ve worked a lot on my batting technique with RX sir, especially with situation-specific aspects: how to tackle spinners, how do I hit boundaries at will, how do I access different areas of the ground?
"I was basically an off-side player, and I was only able to hit from deep backward point to the cover region. I was not able to access the straighter part and the mid-wicket part. But if you see my boundaries this year, there are a lot more pull shots, a lot more towards mid-wicket. I've been able to access different areas of the ground and all the credit I need to give to RX sir for working on my batting setup: the way I stand at the crease, the way I think, mentally prepare for a game, handle different bowlers, different lengths and what the bowler is thinking. If I'm able to take this form and this confidence into the first-class season I can see myself coming back into the IPL setup again," says Suchith.
Suchith's contribution in turning matches around on the field has been a storied one. Remember that boundary catch he plucked to dismiss Manish Pandey and help Punjab defend a modest 126 in an IPL 2020 clash against the SunRisers Hyderabad? As a substitute fielder no less.
Cut to today, and he acknowledges the role that his gymnastics gig has played in developing him into a sharp fielder.
"It is helping me in my fielding and I'm able to do what I am on the ground because of my gymnastics as well. I should thank my dad who was very adamant in me taking up gymnastics. It helps me a lot when I move around, dive and chase a ball. I've been able to do that for 12 to 14 years now and still keep doing that. Most people say that after you're 25 or 26 your body slows down and you do not have the same reaction as what you had in your early 20s. But that's not been the case with me. Of course I put in a lot of hard work off the field as well. I take a lot of care of my body, train a lot in the off season and make sure that I'm fit and ready to go to play a hard season," says Suchith.
Variations to keep up with the trends
In recent times, Suchith has hopped on the trend of adding new strings to his bow as a bowler. Besides the stock delivery, he also bowls the carrom ball and an arm ball that 'swings' into the right-hander and away from the left-hander - a la Akeal Hosein, Imad Wasim and Mitchell Santner.
The carrom ball in particular is intriguing, considering two other teammates of his during his SRH stint in 2021 - Abhishek Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem - also developed the skill. But it's not at the SunRisers where he picked it up.
"My arm ball has been my strength this season. I started bowling the arm ball in 2020. I was part of Kings XI Punjab that year and who better than Anil sir (head coach Anil Kumble) to guide me! I was able to bowl to the best batters of our state like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair…in fact Chris Gayle was there and Nicholas Pooran as well. So I was able to experiment these things in the Punjab nets in 2020 and I bowled a lot of these deliveries," says Suchith.
He went on to cite the influence of Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, his teammate at Punjab in IPL 2020, in developing the carrom ball and the drifter. After returning home and trying it in the local league, Suchith learnt more about his game that he himself wasn't aware of.
"What I realized was over the years, without my knowledge, I started delivering with a different grip and a different load. So I started working on my load and my setup. I’ve bowled so much in the last couple of years that I've had this control on how much the ball needs to swing. This has helped me tackle the left handers. You know the trend in the IPL has been that a left-arm spinner is a good matchup for the left-handers. And unfortunately, I have not been able to play too many games because if there are two or more left-handers, the options for the captain becomes very limited to bowl a left-arm spinner at the right time.
"With this angle of my game developing now, I had a lot of success bowling to left-handers in the Maharaja Trophy. I can take that confidence forward and a lot more people will notice that I can bowl to left-handers and that shouldn’t be a problem to get me back into the playing XI again wherever I play. I've been able to enjoy my cricket better too this season, so that's helped me perform with the bat as well as with the ball," says Suchith.
How difficult is it to master a variation after having bowled one style for a good part of one's career? Suchith cites inspiration from one of the modern-day legends of sport in evolving as a cricketer.
"I'm a huge fan of Ravichandran Ashwin. A guy who has taken 500-odd Test wickets, if he can still work on his game I'm sure any cricketer has that scope of working on his game. I've heard a lot of his interviews where he said the day he stops evolving is the day he wants to stop playing cricket. I feel that's apt for any cricketer who wants to do well year after year. I've been a big believer of improving and getting better every year, adding new dimensions to my game.
"Being a senior pro, they'll start reading you and start playing you in a different manner. To tackle that and to dominate season after season and put in the numbers what you desire or what the team expects from you, I think you have to evolve as a cricketer. That's what I've learnt from my seniors as well like Vinay Kumar and Robin Uthappa. They have inculcated this habit in us, which I'm able to develop in my game and you see this new version of myself every year. That's the hard work I've put in during the off-season.
"To have the confidence to switch during the season or to develop something and even get better, you need to have an open mind for that. I'm happy that I have an open mind to work on my game still. As I mentioned Ashwin - when it can come from a legend like that, a domestic cricketer like me or a cricketer who has played a few seasons of the IPL, I still have it in me and I still can work on my game and get better," says Suchith.
He also acknowledges what is an unwritten rule among left-arm finger-spinners in India today - to be able to contribute with the bat in order to break the barriers of selection.
"The mystery spinner trend has been going around in the circuit for a very long time because of the IPL. The team that has a mystery spinner tends to win the cup. Mystery spinners have been at the top of the market in the last five years. Being a finger spinner, people probably think you're too predictable. And for a fact that the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have been able to contribute so much with both bat and ball over the last decade, in order to succeed and replace the work they've put in, the norm has been that a left-arm spinner has to bat now if we have to match or reach their caliber. So it's already understood - a left-arm spinner has to be good with the bat to compete at the highest level," declares Suchith.
The IPL dream and a new beginning in Nagaland
Suchith was one of the key contributors towards MI's title glory in 2015. Yet somehow, opportunities have been sparse to come by in the tournament. He played just one match the following year before waiting another three seasons for his next chance - a lone match for the Delhi Capitals (DC) against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai.
After warming the benches in IPL 2020, Suchith played two matches for SRH the next year, scoring an unbeaten 6-ball 14 to tie a match against DC and take it to a Super Over. In 2022, he picked up seven wickets from five outings on some of the flatter decks of Maharashtra where the IPL was staged.
Suchith bowled to Andre Russell at the death and dismissed Virat Kohli first ball. And he's aware of all of his numbers, having brought all these up along with his statistics in the Maharaja Trophy, where he is the second-highest wicket-taker (35 scalps) and strikes at a rate of 159.90 with the bat. Surprised that he's a fan of Ashwin?
In a bid to play all three formats - his last first-class fixture for Karnataka was before the COVID-19 pandemic set in - and in turn push his case for an IPL recall, Suchith has made a switch to Nagaland for the upcoming domestic season.
"I think more game time in the domestic circuit will help me get back and I'm doing everything I can from my side to make a difference in the domestic circuit, so that everyone notices that Suchith still has a lot left in him. As a cricketer or in any sport for that matter, you get to face these things. The only thing you can do is keep breaking your own barrier year after year and keep getting better and try to win matches. What I’ve realized over the years is when you win matches single-handedly for any team, you will stand out. That's what I've been able to do this season in the Maharaja Trophy and if I'm able to replicate the same thing for Nagaland and cause say one or two upsets against an Elite team, I think I'll stand out again and my career will be revived again. I can get back into playing the IPL again," he says.
With that also comes an opportunity to give back to the game as a senior statesman now.
"Whenever I've spoken to a cricketer or a youngster about how he can handle his game better, it in turn helps in my game as well, because I'll be thinking about the game, or I'll be thinking about what I'm saying to him so I can inculcate the same thing in my cricket as well. You need to stand out and make a difference. I'm looking forward to making a difference to the boys in Nagaland cricket and if I'm able to help at least two or three cricketers to get better in their game, and if they are able to contribute to the team's win, that will give me great satisfaction as a cricketer. I'll look to pass on whatever knowledge I have learned over the years from my seniors or from my cricketing days and contribute to any kid’s dream of playing higher.
"You never knew people (from smaller states) can play for the country until MS Dhoni proved it coming from Ranchi. After that, you see a lot of cricketers like Riyan Parag coming from a smaller state going on to play at the highest level. Jammu & Kashmir cricket was not heard of but now you see Abdul Samad and Umran Malik having an impact in the IPL. So if I'm able to help the boys in Nagaland dream or achieve 10 per cent or 20 per cent of what they want to achieve, I think that will be a great season for myself personally," he signs off.
A second innings beckons at Nagaland for Suchith, and he will have the company of his good friend from Karnataka, Dega Nischal. The opportunities he has craved for across formats is coming his way, and maybe this is the start of the graph shooting upwards again as he seeks to command the attention of teams ahead of the IPL auction.
