A flattened-out Mullanpur pitch. A helpful Galle surface. A sporting Chelmsford strip. Manav Suthar has taken five wickets or more on all three, in three-odd months.He is 24, four years into first-class cricket. His Test debut was a blockbuster, and a title-winning County Championship campaign with Warwickshire followed. Now the left-arm spinner is back where he started, this time as captain.Starting Sunday in Jaipur, he will lead the Rajasthan red-ball side for the first time, in their Ranji Trophy opener against Tamil Nadu. He has already held the reins in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Now he gets to do it in the format he cherishes most.“I am so grateful to be getting Rajasthan captaincy (in Ranji Trophy). I will give my best for the team and try to fare well in the upcoming season,” Manav tells The Indian Express.As he did in Sri Lanka and England, the finger spinner will target the right tappa (spot where the ball pitches). “My focus is on maintaining consistency. I gauge what would be the best length for a particular pitch and try to land the ball in the right spot accordingly, around the 4-5m mark from the batsman,” he says.Manav, who has earned luminaries’ praise for his old-school bowling action, has a “sharp mind”, according to Rajasthan bowling coach Anup Dave. “He can read batsmen faster than other bowlers. He has an idea of what the batsman is going to do and how he needs to bowl, and thus is always at the top of his game,” Dave explains. “His X-factor is that he can bowl arm balls and conventional spin, with drift, from the same spot.”The reason behind his versatility across conditions, the coach adds, is his drift and his ability to adapt to different red balls. “Be it domestic cricket’s SG ball, Sri Lanka’s Kookaburra or England’s Dukes, he can deliver the goods. The ball difference doesn’t matter to him.”Story continues below this adDave says it is temperament that has the Indian team looking at him as a red-ball mainstay. “You don’t get turning tracks in international cricket very often; you have to bowl 30-40 overs to eke out four-five wickets. Manav has the habit of bowling 40-odd overs in a day with ease.”He has done it routinely for India A. Per Dave: “He is ready, usmein hai woh baat (he’s the real deal).”***The Ranji games in October-November lead up to India’s two-Test series in New Zealand. India have won five of 25 Tests there, the last in 2009.“I am preparing mentally for the kind of wickets we will get there (in New Zealand) and what can be a suitable line and pace for me. I am watching videos to try and estimate the kind of surfaces they will offer. How they actually behave, we will only know upon getting there,” says Manav, who is from Sri Ganganagar.Manav prepares as per the Indian team management’s instructions, Dave says. “We don’t have to tell him anything. Sairaj Bahutule (India’s spin-bowling coach) monitors his bowling regularly; videos of Manav’s spells from this match (Rajasthan vs TN) will also go to Bahutule.”Story continues below this adA breeze usually flows in New Zealand, Dave, 45, adds, and they will tell him how to bowl into it and manage drift. “The likes of (Gautam) Gambhir have been there before, they’ll surely be advising him. My job is to focus on what he’s doing in this particular Ranji match. We don’t tinker much with Test players anyway.”***On Saturday, Manav was the first to bat in the Rajasthan nets and the last to stop batting. The bowling all-rounder has not forgotten what he brings lower down the order, for India as well as his state team. “Batting is very important. As an all-rounder, aap team ke bahut kaam aate ho (you are very useful for the team). If you bat and field well, it gives the team a lot of flexibility. I am working hard on all three aspects: batting, bowling and fielding,” Manav states.Batters will start to get the hang of his tricks, in this match and beyond. He will need to reinvent his bowling. Manav is unflustered.“Woh chalta rehta hai (That is ongoing). Har roz aap aate ho, har roz nayi cheez seekhte ho (everyday you come and learn something new),” he signs off.