Not Thinking Too Much About The IPL 2022 Auction: T Natarajan
Published - 07 Feb 2022, 11:23 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:04 AM
Tamil Nadu pacer T Natarajan has said that he is not thinking about the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auction much and wants to focus on his fitness and work hard towards his goal of representing the country once more.
After making terrific waves in IPL 2020 and earning an amazing Indian team call-up in Australia, Natarajan fell off the radar after suffering a knee injury that has kept him out of the national reckoning for the better part of 2021 year and he even has to miss the second half of the IPL 2021 due to testing positive for COVID-19 and then to fix his knee issues.
Now ready and fit again, Natarajan said that he is not thinking of the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auction. He was not retained by his franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, who retained Kane Williamson, Umran Malik, and Abdul Samad.
“I’m not thinking too much about it [the auction]. IPL, another T20 World Cup – there are talks about 2022 being a big year – but I just want to focus on my strengths and keep working hard. If I do that, the rest of the things will fall in place. I’m coming back after a long break, so pathatam irukkum [nervousness will be there]. I’ll be lying if I say I’m not nervous,” Natarajan told ESPNCricinfo.
“I’ve done well in the IPL and for India before, so people will expect strong performances from me. Once I play one or two matches, I will hit my rhythm and will be more clear with my plans. I’m feeling refreshed now and just want to keep doing whatever has worked for me in the past – focusing on my yorkers and cutters. I want to come back as the old Natarajan,” he added.
T Natarajan made his India ODI, Test, and T20I debut in Australia in some amazing situations.
It Was Boring To Start With: Natarajan On The Recovery Process
Not fully gaining his fitness from COVID-19 and knee issues, T Natarajan didn’t perform well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy and then had to miss the Vijay Hazare Trophy after that. Talking about his rehab experience, Natarajan stated that it was a very boring process and you have to keep doing the same things again and again.
“It was boring to start with. You will have to keep doing the same things again and again, but you need to do it properly to become fit again. I was in Bangalore for around five months at the NCA. During the weekends, I used to go back home to Salem and spend time with the family.
Apart from talking to my mentor Jayaprakash anna (brother), I used to call up Washy (Washington Sundar), Rajinikanth (trainer) and Shyam Sundar (Sunrisers Hyderabad physio) during the recovery phase. I had the confidence and motivation from my anna Jayaprakash. He always frees up my mind. Motivational words have always inspired me from childhood. The major learning was that cricket – and life – has both ups and downs and you’ll have to learn to accept it,” Natarajan said.
He will be hoping to get a decent bid from a franchise where he can work upon his game and stake a claim for re-entry into the Indian team.
