Debutant Indian bowler from Tamil Nadu T Natarajan, on Tuesday, said that aggression is not his cup of tea. He was speaking to cricketer Murali Karthik after Tuesday’s T20 match against Australia when he made the comment.
“Many people have asked me this. I have been like this since my childhood. I cannot be aggressive. I just smile and move on. Not a big deal,” Natarajan told Murali Karthik, when the latter asked a question about how the southpaw is able to keep his calm even when he gets hit for boundaries during a game. Expressing happiness at the series win and his performance in his debut international outing, Natarajan also said that he had no expectations when he flew down to Australia as part of the squad.
From being a net bowler to impressing the whole nation in his debut series, @Natarajan_91 has surely come a far way
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) December 8, 2020
Watch him talk to @kartikmurali about his journey and game plan #CricketKaAsliRang #AUSvIND #INDvAUS #SonySports #TNatarajan #Natarajan pic.twitter.com/Cgo2Mv4NHw
“I didn’t have any huge expectations. I just wanted to do my work. Anyway I came here as a net bowler and I got a chance here due to some injury (of other players). I was just looking to utilise the chance. Since I was in good form during IPL, that helped. Also, people here motivated and supported me well. So I got the confidence to do better,” he said. Adding that he believed in his strength of bowling cutters and yorkers, Natarajan said that he just executed the variations according to the wicket at that point in time.
“I then ask the wicket-keeper or the captain about the wicket and whether it is slow etc. I adapted according to that and bowled. I was fully confident about my death bowling, yorkers and slow balls. I didn’t do any other changes. I tried replicating what I did in IPL, here and tried to execute it clearly,” he said.
Thangarasu Natarajan played his first ever international ODI and T20 matches during the present tour of India to Australia. Initially a part of the team for T20 matches, Natarajan secured his place in the ODI squad after Varun Chakravarthy had to sit out due to injuries. He picked two wickets from one ODI he played and six wickets across the three T20 matches he played against Australia.
Hardik Pandya, who was awarded the Man of the Series, also congratulated Natarajan and said that it was the debut bowler who deserved Man of the Series honour.
Natarajan, you were outstanding this series. To perform brilliantly in difficult conditions on your India debut speaks volumes of your talent and hardwork You deserve Man of the Series from my side bhai! Congratulations to #TeamIndia on the win pic.twitter.com/gguk4WIlQD
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) December 8, 2020