Natarajan enters all three formats of cricket in the same tour, first Indian to achieve this

Last updated on January 19th, 2021 at 07:09 am

Natarajan: It has not been long that T Natarajan swayed cricket lovers with his extraordinary control over the ball and now he has scored himself another century. He has become the first Indian player to debut in all three formats in the same tour. 

The impact driven pacer initially came to Australian tour as a net bowler but on Friday, it was announced by the team management that the 29-year-old bowler will be debuting in all the three formats of cricket in the same tour. 

Despite the heroics he displayed in the domestic circuit, it was only during the end of last year when he got an opportunity in the Indian A team. Now in the fourth test in Brisbane, he got a chance to be a part of the playing XI after many players are struggling to come back to full fitness after suffering injury in the Australian tour. 

The Brisbane test will start on Friday and will be the last in the longest format of cricket. As for Natarajan, he made his international debut in the 50-over format on December 2 in the ongoing tour in Canberra. He was a contributing factor to India’s win by 13 runs. 

The Indian pacer took two wickets for 70 runs in 10 overs. The player also shined in the T-20 format  where India registered a win by 2-1. Natarajan had taken six wickets during the series. 

ICC welcomed the player through a congratulatory message on Twitter. The cricket body said, “Welcome to Test cricket … Thangarasu Natarajan becomes the first Indian player to make his International debut across all three formats during the same tour.”

Experts have shown tremendous confidence in the bowler and he has also displayed it to perfection as he took wicket in the Brisbane test just after the heroics of Washington Sundar. Sundar had earlier taken the wicket of Steve Smith and surprised everyone while T Natarajan broke a persistent partnership of the Aussies on Friday. 

The 300th test player of India troubled Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade on a consistent basis and the duo finally gave up on his skills, which eventually gave an opening to the Indian side. 

The bowler has been impressing a lot of people with his skills and his consistency. He was handed over the ODI cap by Indian skipper Virat Kohli ahead of the match against Australia in canberra and since then, there was no turning back for him. But he had a difficult journey reaching this spot. 

After outstanding performance in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, Natarajan got a chance to play for Kings XI Punjab under his IPL contract. Later, he got a chance to be a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad and that made a significant impact in brushing his skills and helping him get on track for his future in the Indian team.