Former India head coach Ravi Shastri is delighted to see SRH pacer T Natarajan back on the field and bowling toe-crushing yorkers after recovering from injury. Natarajan made his India debut in 2020 on the Australia tour when Shastri was the head coach of the team. The left-arm pacer impressed many with his disciplined bowling in the death overs during IPL 2020 which helped him get a chance on the international stage. Natarajan also left a big impression on his debut T20I series against Australia but unfortunately, a few months later he injured his knee and missed a substantial amount of competitive cricket including the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Shastri admitted that India missed Natarajan in the T20 WC and he would’ve been a certainty in the squad but the injury ruined the plans.
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“Very happy for him. We missed him in the World Cup. He would’ve been a certainty had he been fit. He got injured against England when we were playing the ODI series and we really missed him (in the World Cup). He’s that specialist death bowler, bowls those yorkers very skilfully. He’s got great control. He is skiddy. A bit quicker than you think and hits the bat,” Shastri said on ESPNCricinfo.
Shastri’s tenure as Team India head coach ended after the 2021 T20 WC where India were ousted from the group stage after suffering defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand.
The former head coach further talked about the time when he gave chance to Natarajan during his tenure and India won whenever he played in the side.
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“Every game I’ve picked him we won. In his debut in T20, India win. In his debut in Test cricket, India win. From a net bowler, he played those other two formats,” Shastri added.
Natarajan had an impressive outing against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday’s clash at a DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai. The left-arm seamer claimed two wickets for just 26 runs as both of his scalps – KL Rahul and Krunal Pandya came in the penultimate over which helped SRH restrict LSG to 169/7.
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