T Natarajan, left-arm seamer from Tamilnadu made his ODI debut at Manuka Oval, Canberra in the 3rd ODI match against Australia. He received his ODI cap from Indian Skipper Virat Kohli, became the 232nd Indian player to play ODI cricket for India. T Natarajan is the 5th fast bowler from Tamilnadu to play for India. The last Tamil fast bowler was Laxmipathy Balaji. He also became the 11th Left-arm pace bowler to play for India.
T Natarajan was included in India’s T20 squad as the replacement of injured Varun Chakrabarty. He played in place of Mohammed Shami in the third ODI in Canberra.
HOW NATARAJAN MADE A PLACE IN INDIAN TEAM?
T Natarajan attracted the attention of the selectors by bowling exceptionally well for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2020. He bagged 16 wickets in the IPL, starting with the big wicket of Virat Kohli. Natarajan topped the chart of bowling most number of yorkers. His yorker castling the wicket of AB De Villers fascinated everyone.
T Natarajan is from Chinnappampatti village near the Selam city of Tamilnadu. His father used to work in a Saree manufacturing factory on daily wages. His mother sold snacks on the street.
Natarajan used to play tennis cricket till the age of 20 and bowled superb cutters. Natarajan was spotted by a division player named Jayprakash in Tamilnadu. He made his first-class debut in 2015 but was accused of chucking. He worked hard with his coaches and made an impact later on in the inaugural edition of the Tamilnadu premier League. Scouts paid attention to him for his outstanding yorker bowling ability.
T Natarajan was bought by KXIP in 2017 for 3.2 cr INR grabbed 2 wickets in 6 matches. In 2018 Sunrisers Hyderabad picked him for INR 40 Lakh and he again warmed the bench for two more seasons but came out as one of the leading fast bowlers of SRH in IPL 2020. His journey from a village to wearing an Indian jersey has been inspirational and bewitching.
Natarajan printed his godfather Jayprakashes’s name on the jersey of IPL to pay tribute to him as he made his way to represent Tamilnadu, which opened the doors of IPL.
Former Indian all-rounderKapil Dev stated- “ Natarajan was my hero of IPL 2020”.
T Natarajan has bagged two wickets on his debut match. Hopefully, he will get a berth in the T20s also and make an impact with his variations.
