T Natarajan
T Natarajan has been bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad this year (Credits: ESPN)

Indian pacer, T Natarajan is having a dream past few months. He had a terrific IPL 2020 for the Sunrisers Hyderabad – Natarajan took 16 wickets and bowled the most number of yorkers in the season. On the back of his beaming performances in the IPL, he made it to India’s limited-overs team for the Australia tour.

The left-arm pacer made his ODI and T20I debut emphatically. He was so good in the T20Is that made Hardik Pandya hand over his Man of the Series award to Natarajan. Not to forget, he came into the squad as a replacement for the injured Varun Chakravarthy.

T Natarajan, India
T Natarajan (Credits: Twitter)

Impressed by the display of skills in the T20Is, Natarajan was asked to stay with the team for the Test series as well as a net bowler – to prepare the Indian batters for the left-arm angle of Mitchell Starc.

However, now, as the events took place, the 29-year-old stands a chance to make his Test debut as well. Mohammed Shami was ruled out of the series after copping a blow on his hand in the first Test in Adelaide and was replaced by Mohammed Siraj for the second Test. Umesh Yadav suffered a calf injury while bowling in the second Test in Melbourne. On Friday (January 1) Natarajan was added to the squad for a remaining couple of Tests.

While Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur were already in the squad ahead of the Tamil Nadu pacer. However, the variety of a left-arm bowler – India hasn’t fielded a left-arm pacer since Zaheer Khan in 2014 – and the form and confidence might prompt the management to give Natarajan the nod in the third Test in Sydney.

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Hardik Pandya, T Natarajan
Hardik Pandya, T Natarajan. Credits: Twitter

T Natarajan takes a brilliant catch running backwards

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a video on Twitter where Natarajan is seen taking an excellent catch while running backwards. In the background, his teammates could be heard lauding the remarkable effort from the pacer.

“@Natarajan_91 has been grabbing his chances very well on this tour,” tweeted BCCI.

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