Breaking through the shackles of poverty by bowling pinpoint yorkers at will, Thangarasu Natarajan, currently a part of SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), has done almost everything he could for his family, except convincing his mother to give up selling chicken on the roadside.
The birth of Natarajan as a death bowling specialist had taken place a few years before the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), where he is now rattling the best of batsmen with his toe-crushers, ball after ball. His excellence once again came to light in Tuesday's match of SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Delhi Capitals (DC). Natarajan dished out 10 yorkers in two overs (14th and 18th), thus playing an important role in restricting DC in its chase.
Natarajan’s journey as a cricketer for Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and the IPL is peppered not just with impressive yorkers but also with significant personal achievements. He has built a house for his parents who are daily wage labourers, provided education for his sisters, opened a cricket training academy in his village Chinnappampatti in Salem district and convinced a teammate to not give up the game.
"I am not surprised as he has worked very hard. He has gone through a lot. He has overcome injury problems, worked his way back into the state team and is now doing well when given an opportunity by SRH," Jayaprakash, his mentor, told PTI. Jayaprakash played a major role in spotting Natarajan’s talent early on and honing it to what he is today, according to sources close to Natarajan.
First picked by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 3 crore in 2017, Natarajan took three years to come of age at the big stage, having proved expensive in the six games that he had played prior to the current edition.
He was picked up by SunRisers Hyderabad in 2018 but played his first game for them only this season. In Tuesday’s match, his bowling spell included the valuable wicket of Australian big-hitter Marcus Stoinis, while conceding only 25 runs in his 4 overs.
Son of a daily-wage labourer, Natarajan has ensured that his parents don't suffer any longer and constructed a house for them while also making sure his siblings receive proper education.
"He has settled his family. He has constructed a house for his parents. He is educating his siblings," his mentor added.
That is not all, Natarajan has opened an academy in his village in an effort to provide the necessary facilities to youngsters, which he did not have.
The 29-year old is also helping out many people who used to play with him and G Periyaswamy, who rose to prominence in last year's Tamil Nadu Premier League, is one of them.
"Natarajan continues to help a lot of young cricketers and those who played tennis ball cricket with him. He made sure that Periyaswamy who had given up hope of playing the game, came back by convincing his family that there was a future for him in cricket," Jayaprakash said.
His cricketing journey is not without hitches. Natarajan, who had issues with his action early in his career, also faced shoulder problems and worked his way back after struggling for some time.
Avinash Khandelwal, fielding coach of the Tamil Nadu team, said Natarajan has always been known to possess a superb yorker in the state's cricket circles.
"Yeah, Nattu works on his yorkers a lot. To bowl yorkers is not easy and to execute it under pressure is another thing. That is because he works on it. He does it regularly in events like TNPL and is now showing he can do it at the highest level," the Coimbatore-based Khandelwal said.
Abhinav Mukund, who has played with Natarajan at various levels including in TNPL, endorsed that Natarajan is a hardworking cricketer. “What people saw recently on TV for SRH was something we have all seen multiple times in our games for Tamil Nadu and in TNPL. That is something he is capable of and is a natural at,” Abhinav told TNM. Adding that Natarajan is an extremely hardworking bowler who is always willing to learn and get better, Abhinav said that even in his early days, when Natarajan was a net bowler for Abhinav’s cricket club, he used to trouble batsmen with his pace.
“Me and Natarajan go a long way back. He was one of the net bowlers for my club team Vijay CC in Chennai in the first division circuit. He was so good that even in his first year there, he used to trouble people with his pace. He has played a lot of tennis ball cricket and bowls the yorker very well,” he added.
That he started a cricket club in his native village in Salem district, where many young cricketers train for free, speaks a lot about his love for the game, Abhinav added. “He is able to support a lot of kids coming from his village also. That's a great thing he is doing. It shows that he loves the sport more than the money he makes. I think that is something that actually stands out,” Abhinav pointed out.