T Natarajan, the Tamil Nadu and Sunrisers Hyderabad left-arm seamer, has been added to India’s ODI squad, just hours before the series opener, as cover for Navdeep Saini. According to a BCCI media release, Saini had complained of “back spasm.”
Natarajan wasn’t in any of the white-ball squads in the first place, but an injury to his state-mate Varun Chakravarthy got him his maiden national call-up for the T20I leg of the Australia tour.
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Natarajan excelled in the death overs for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2020 in the UAE, bowling 71 yorkers during this phase, more than double the next best. He conceded 57 off these 71 deliveries – an economy of 4.81 – while picking up five wickets, including that of AB de Villiers in the Eliminator against the Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur are the other frontline seam-bowling options for India in their ODI squad.
Natarajan’s rise has been remarkable because it’s unusual for the selectors to pick an uncapped 29-year-old. The last two fast bowlers to make their international debuts for India after 29 were S Aravind in 2015 and Pankaj Singh in 2014. Prior to that, you’ll have to go back to 1994, when Bhupinder Singh Snr. made his ODI debut, and then all the way back to 1958, when Ghulam Guard played the first of his two Tests.
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