Indian business tycoon Anand Mahindra fulfilled his promise by gifting pacer T Natarajan a Thar SUV on Thursday (April 1).
Taking to Twitter, the left-arm fast bowler uploaded pictures of him receiving the SUV from the showroom and thanked Anand Mahindra for recognising his journey. He also sent his signed Gabba Test jersey as a return gift.
Notably, the chairman of the Mahindra Group had announced Thar SUV for six Indian cricketers, who were part of the squad that beat Australia at their home to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.
"Playing cricket for India is the biggest privilege of my life. My #Rise has been on an unusual path. Along the way, the love and affection, I have received has overwhelmed me. The support and encouragement from wonderful people, helps me find ways to #ExploreTheImpossible .."
"As I drive the beautiful @Mahindra_Thar home today, I feel immense gratitude towards Shri @anandmahindra for recognising my journey & for his appreciation. I trust sir, that given your love for cricket, you will find this signed shirt of mine from the #Gabba Test, meaningful," Natarajan tweeted.
Apart from Natarajan, Anand Mahindra had promised to gift the SUV to Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur.
It is worth mentioning here that Natarajan, Sundar, Gill, Saini, and Siraj had made their Test debuts during the tour Down Under. On the other hand, Thakur played the second Test of his career at the Gabba, having made his injury-marred red-ball debut in 2018 against West Indies.
Team India had copped a lot of criticism when they got bowled out for 36 during their 8-wicket loss in the opening Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
Furthermore, regular skipper Virat Kohli returned home on paternity leave after the first Test while a number of key players picked up injuries through the course of the series.
Despite the setbacks, the visiting team under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy bounced back brilliantly to register a 2-1 series victory with emphatic wins in Melbourne and Brisbane.
