"He is broken down when he's picked" - Ravichandran Ashwin on T Natarajan

India and Tamil Nadu pacer T Natarajan played a key role in India's historic win at Gabba, Brisbane during India's tour to Australia in 2020-21. But since then, Natarajan hasn't played a first-class game.

Regarded as a highly-skilled bowler in white-ball cricket, Natarajan was seen as an all-format bowler at that time. But unfortunately, injuries have severely affected his cricket career.

Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin broke the silence on his India and Tamil Nadu teammates and reasoned why Natarajan is not in any of the Duleep Trophy squads.

Constant injuries have hampered Natarajan's consistency. Not only in red-ball cricket, he has been unable to keep himself fit enough for India's white-ball teams as well. As a result, he has been pushed back in the queue by some of the other talented bowlers.

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Ravichandran Ashwin reasons what led to T Natarajan's ouster from Duleep Trophy 2024

While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin spoke about the curious case of T Natarajan. Ashwin reckoned that Natarajan hasn't been able to keep himself fit enough whenever he has been picked.

Ashwin further added that Natarajan needs to play red-ball cricket for Tamil Nadu to be picked for the Duleep Trophy.

"I feel Natarajan is a fantastic white-ball bowler. He did well in IPL this year. His last first-class match was Australia vs India at Brisbane on January 15th in 2021. He has not put himself on the park for the last 3 years. He is broken down when he's picked and he is not played. We are backing him a lot," Ashwin said.

"I like Natarajan a lot. He is a very good guy. But, just for the sake of it, I won't say it today. If Natarajan played red-ball cricket and made it to Tamil Nadu, I will say that he should play there," he added.

T Natarajan's poor fitness history

Natarajan's poor fitness record doesn't allow him to sustain the workload of red-ball cricket. But he is a regular in Tamil Nadu's white-ball teams, especially in T20 cricket. His ability to bowl at the death stands out and his experience is valuable as well.

Since his knee surgery in 2021, Natarajan hasn't played a lot of red-ball cricket. It is to be noted that he was a part of Tamil Nadu's Ranji Trophy squad last season but did not make it to the Playing XI.

T Natarajan's IPL 2024 season

Even in the IPL, Natarajan had a brilliant season this year. On batting-friendly wickets, he proved to be difficult to score runs easily. In IPL 2024, he picked up 19 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 24.47 and an economy rate of 9.06. The left-arm seamer was Sunrisers Hyderabad's leading wicket-taker of the season.

The 33-year-old will be aiming to make an impression in other white ball tournaments like Vijay Hazare Trophy, which will be held later this year. He has been a regular performer in Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL).