Who is Senuran Muthusamy? South Africa batter of Indian origin takes Bumrah & Co to the cleaners

Senuran Muthusamy became the big hero for South Africa on Sunday after scoring his first-ever Test century. His brilliant knock has put South Africa in a very strong position in the second Test against India in Guwahati, giving them a real chance to win a Test series in India after 25 long years.

The left-hander reached his hundred just before lunch on Day 2 with two runs off Mohammed Siraj. He faced 192 balls for the milestone and showed great patience and control throughout his innings, which was made up of 10 boundaries and 2 sixes.

Muthusamy started the day on 25 and batted with calmness during the morning session. He first built a steady partnership with Kyle Verreynne and later took complete charge with Marco Jansen. The two added a crucial stand that pushed South Africa past 400 and completely frustrated the Indian bowlers.

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By the second session, South Africa were fully on top, and Muthusamy’s knock was the biggest reason for that. He was eventually bowled out for 109 by Siraj right after the lunch break. This is the best innings of his Test career so far, better than his previous highest score of 89 not out against Pakistan earlier this year.

Who is Senuran Muthusamy?

Senuran Muthusamy was born on 22 February 1994 in Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. His family is of Indian Tamil origin, and he still has relatives living in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu.

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Muthusamy studied at Clifton College, an independent school in Durban, where he started playing cricket from a young age. He represented KwaZulu-Natal in age-group cricket from Under-11 to Under-19 levels.

He was talented, but even then he did not believe cricket could be his long-term career. So Muthusamy completed a degree in media and marketing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Muthusamy became a regular for the South African domestic team Dolphins in the 2016-17 season. At first, he was known more for his batting, but he started developing his left-arm spin gradually.

His breakthrough season came in 2017-18, when he scored a career-best 181 while opening the batting against the Knights. Later, he moved down the order to adjust his role and focus more on his bowling. That season, he finished as the second-highest wicket-taker for the Dolphins, with 33 wickets at an average of 26.54.

His strong domestic performances earned him a place in South Africa’s spin camp in India in 2018 and then a spot in the South Africa A squad that toured India before the senior team arrived in 2019.

Muthusamy made his Test debut against India in Visakhapatnam in October 2019. His very first Test wicket was a huge one - Virat Kohli, which immediately gave him confidence that he could perform at the highest level.

Despite performing well for many years, Muthusamy could never cement his spot in the South African team and spent a long time on the sidelines. He eventually earned a comeback in 2025 after going in and out of the squad for a few seasons.