It took Anil Kumble one look at J Hemchudeshan at the Centre of Excellence to label him “a traditional off-spinner.”

At 18, when he is still finding his feet in the India Under-19 set-up ahead of the next World Cup, he is already part of BCCI’s targeted pool of spinners. At the CoE, the coaches believe, if he continues to evolve the way he has, Hemchudeshan won’t take long to partner Manav Suthar in the Indian Test team.

He was drafted into the Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy squad last season even before he was 18, making his debut against Jharkhand and has featured in three First-Class matches already.

The hype around Hemchudheshan isn’t without reason. In 2023/24, he took a record 53 wickets in the Vijay Merchant Trophy. It was his first season after he had switched to bowling off-spin. In 2024/2025, he finished the Cooch Behar Trophy with 47 wickets in 15 innings at an average of 15.23, which brought him the MA Chidambaram Trophy at the BCCI Naman Awards.…