Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) team mentor VVS Laxman believes left-arm seamer T Natarajan's inclusion in the playing XI this season has bolstered his team's bowling attack, especially in the death-overs, where the team has often been over-dependant on experienced Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Natarajan's toe-crushing yorkers in Sunrisers' first win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Abu Dhabi impressed one and all.
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Laxman thinks the 29-year-old, who had to wait three years before his chances with SRH after an unsuccessful maiden IPL stint for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in 2017, will only go from strength to strength following Tuesday's (September 29) performance.
"I think it is great to see the way Natarajan bowled. He has done really well in TNPL that is why he was picked by KXIP three seasons back," ANI quoted Laxman as saying.
"He has been with us for the last few seasons now. His work ethic is fantastic (and) even in the Ranji Trophy he picked wickets."
"During the lockdown, he did everything possible to be in best possible rhythm. To have the confidence to execute yorkers, that is fantastic."
"Along with Bhuvi, we have Natarajan now as well who can do the job at the death," he stressed.
Indian batting great feels it's fantastic to have not just Natarajan but many other youngsters making their opportunities count this season.
"There are so many Indian players who have done well so far in this edition. IPL is a proper platform for the uncapped players to blossom and become experienced," Laxman said.
"This time, I am sure every player had the opportunity to spend three weeks in preparatory phase. It is a good sign, I am also excited to see the young Indian players evolving in the SunRisers camp."
After going down in their first two matches, SRH needed a confidence-boosting win versus DC.
"I think it was a very important win because Delhi did well in their first two matches," said Laxman. "Your first win is so critical, unfortunately, we did not do well in the first two matches, but the first win is always special and I am sure that will add to the confidence of the team."
The reinclusion of former skipper Kane Williamson added so much more weight to SRH's otherwise thin-looking middle-order. Williamson struck a wonderful half-century at No.4 in his team's 15-run win that day against Delhi.
"We have three overseas batters in our top four, but we need to play our best players in the XI. The youngsters in the XI might probably play the finisher role," said Laxman. "Other night, Abhishek Sharma did not get many balls to face. We have top class Indian bowlers like Bhuvi, Khaleel."
"We have Sandeep Sharma and Nadeem on the bench. Our Indian bowling is formidable. We got an opportunity to use Kane at the moment, but depending on the opposition, we have the luxury of playing different combination."
"We also have Jason Holder now, so I think we have the luxury of playing different combination," he added.
As they strive to put the campaign on track and continue the momentum from there, Laxman realises SRH's next opponent, three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Dubai on Friday (October 2) could prove a major stumbling block despite the struggles of their own this year.
"CSK is a very formidable side. We know the quality they have in their side but in IPL every team is formidable, it is about sticking to your strengths and executing your skills on the day," he said.
"We want to build on our win that we secured against Delhi, we are closer to find our best possible combination. We just hope to build on the win we got against Delhi Capitals."
"We will definitely have plans for every CSK batsmen, it's going to be quite a challenge playing against them. As long as we execute our plans, then we have the quality in our bowling side to keep a check on the run flow," Laxman concluded.
