Breaking News: T Natarajan Added To India's ODI Squad For 3-match Series vs Australia

Left-arm seamer T Natarajan has been making rapid strides in the last couple of months and his IPL 2020 performances. After coming in as a replacement for leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy in India’s T20I squad for Australia, T Natarajan has also made it to the ODI team as announced by the BCCI. India begin their tour of Australia with the first of the three ODIs on Friday in Sydney.

With Navdeep Saini complaining of a back spasm, the selectors saw it best to include T Natarajan in the squad to compete in the 50-over games. The left-arm seamer was merely a net bowler for the Indian batsmen at the start and some injury concerns have catapulted him to the squad. It has also given him a realistic chance of competing in a considerable number of games.

With India needing to rotate their frontline fast bowlers, namely Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami judiciously, T Natarajan could be one of the bowlers to take their spots. The Salem-born seamer is not much experienced in List A cricket though, having featured in 15 games and managing 16 wickets at 30.81. However, the prospect of being relatively unknown to the Australians gives him an edge.

T Natajaran’s performances in IPL 2020:

T Natarajan was part of SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2020 and for the first time played in the full season. He picked up 16 wickets in 16 games and delivered as many as more than 40 yorkers, executing it to significant effect. It was his knack of consistently bowling yorkers that earned him a spot in the squad. If not in ODIs, the 29-year old will most likely in the T20 internationals, scheduled to take place after the One-day internationals.

Also Read: Shami And Bumrah’s Workload To Be Managed Against Australia, Says Virat Kohli