Tamil Nadu’s left-arm pacer T Natarajan finally realized his dream of donning the Team India jersey and representing the country in international cricket, when he made his ODI debut against Australia in Canberra on December 2, 2020.
He was named in the Indian T20I squad as a replacement for spinner Varun Chakravarthy and with a back spasm complaint from Navdeep Saini, Natarajan was added to the ODI squad as well.
This was a reward for his years of hard work and amazing performance for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2020 in UAE, where he picked 16 wickets in as many matches and delivered perfect yorkers at will.
Virender Sehwag recalls buying T Natarajan in 2017 auctions for KXIP after seeing his videos
It was his ability to bowl toe-crushing yorkers at any time, that earned him his maiden India cap and the Natarajan called the experience of representing his country, a surreal experience.
"It was a surreal experience to represent the country. Thanks to everyone for your wishes. Looking forward for more challenges," Natarajan tweeted.
He finished with 2/70 in 10 overs, picking the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Ashton Agar, and helping India win the match by 13 runs.
India had batted first and with the help from Virat Kohli’s 63 and an unbeaten 150-run partnership between Hardik Pandya (92*) and Ravindra Jadeja (66*), put 302/5 on board in 50 overs. After that Shardul Thakur (3/51) and Jasprit Bumrah, who removed a dangerous Glenn Maxwell at a crucial stage of the match, ensured India kept Australia to 289 inside 50 overs.
