Left-arm fast bowler T Natarajan, who had a fairytale ride in the last couple of months, made an impressive debut against Australia in the 3rd ODI. In the wake of it, former India opener Virender Sehwag has recalled when King XI Punjab bought the young fast bowler ahead of the 2017 IPL auction.
Meanwhile, Natarajan’s story perfectly matches the moto of IPL – where talent meets opportunity. With no experience of domestic cricket and only one season of Tamil Nadu Premier League experience under his belt; the boy from Tamil Nadu went under the hammer for the biggest franchise-based league in the world.
Virender Sehwag recalls when he roped T Natarajan in KXIP
A couple of years down the line, T Natarajan outperformed himself for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He returned with 16 wickets in 16 games at an economy rate of 8.02 and had the most number of yorkers under his name.
After a memorable debut for T Natarajan, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag recalled how he propelled the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) franchise to take him in the squad at the 2017 auctions.
“I was very happy because when I had picked Natarajan in the IPL for the Kings XI Punjab, everyone was asking questions that this player has come who has not even played domestic cricket and came after playing just the TNPL league, so how he was picked at such a huge price,” Sehwag told Sony Sports Network.
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“I was not bothered about the money but there is a talent. We had a few Tamil Nadu players in our team at the time who told me that he is a very good player who bowls very well in the slog overs and delivers a perfect yorker.
I saw his videos and then decided that we will surely take him at the auction because we did not have a death bowler. Unfortunately, that year, he had an injury to the elbow or the knee because of which he could not play too many matches. But we won only the matches that he played in and lost all the other matches,” Virender Sehwag continued.
Meanwhile, T Natarajan is expected to make his T20I debut later today when India play Australia in the first T20I at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. The youngster will hope to deliver the goods as the visitors look to start the series with a win.
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