It has been an inspiring cricket journey for T Natarajan so far. (Reuters)India’s debutant pacer T Natarajan has had a memorable ODI debut on Wednesday against Australia when the left-arm bowler manages to take his first international wicket in his third over. He dismissed Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne by bowling out. Labuschagne intended to pull the length delivery, but got a thick inside-edge off to stumps.
@Natarajan_91 got his first international wicket#AUSvIND #Nattu pic.twitter.com/NezCuhX3io
— M.Govindaraji (@RJGovind104) December 2, 2020
Riding on a superb Indian Premier League season (IPL 2020), Natarajan finally got Team India ODI cap during the third and final match at Canberra. He replaced Navdeep Saini in the playing XI which also included Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur.
Natrajan, who is known for his accurate toe-crushers, was added to the ODI squad as cover for Saini. The left-arm bowler, earlier drafted into the T20I squad after an injury to spinner Varun Chakravarathy, was handed cap number 232 by skipper Virat Kohli ahead of the toss at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
A massive day for @Natarajan_91 today as he makes his #TeamIndia debut. He becomes the proud owner of 🧢 232. Go out and give your best, champ! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/YtXD3Nn9pz
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2020
Saini had complained of back spasms which led to the 29-year-old yorker specialist from Tamil Nadu’s inclusion in the 50-over format. Natarajan, who has played 15 List A matches so far, was initially a net bowler accompanying the Indian team.
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He, alongside Warner and Rashid Khan, contributed significantly to Sunrisers’ progress in the IPL 2020. In injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence, Natarajan stepped up his game and darted yorker after yorker to end with 16 wickets at 31.50.