Chennai left-arm pacer –T Natarajan, whose key weapon is deceptive off cutter and who is known for his whippy and quick arm action, on Tuesday, returned to the field after recovering from an elbow injury in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) first division league.
Having an elbow surgery in November last year, Natarajan had to stay away from action for eight months. Now, the pacer has made his first appearance in competitive cricket after his surgery for Jolly Rovers in the TNCA first division league, and he looked in perfect rhythm.
With the injury, Natarajan had missed entire domestic season this year, but he made a decent return as the pacer bowled 10 overs in two spells (four and six overs), against CromBest RC, and didn't feel any difficulty while bowling.
The 26-year-old Salem-based cricketer is delighted with the fact that he made a comeback right before the upcoming 11th edition of the India Premier League (IPL) 2018, starting from 7 Aril in Mumbai.
Natarajan, who was brought up Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for Rs 40 lakh, said he feels confident and is looking forward to the IPL 2018. In the last season, he had played for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
Speaking to Times of India, Natarajan said, “It felt great to bowl again after a long time. I didn’t want to rush my return and aggravate the injury. I’m mentally relaxed now that I have comeback fully fit. I thank TNCA and Chemplast for supporting me during those tough times. I’m confident now and looking forward to the IPL.”
He further added, “For a while, I felt a bit odd as I hadn’t bowled in a match for long. However, I got into the groove and felt the ball was coming out of my hand nicely. For the past two weeks, I have been bowling regularly at the nets and that helped get my rhythm going. Playing three-day cricket will keep me match fit and it’s important to get into any tournament with match-practice under your belt.”
Natarajan will join the SRH camp at the end of March. He has already started preparations trying out certain slow variations to baffle batsmen in the tournament.
