It was a dream start for T Natarajan as he picked up two wickets on his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane. Continuing from his fine form in the shorter format where he performed creditably in the T20s, the ‘Yorker king’ as he is known, got the important wickets of Mathew Wade and a well-set Marnus Labuschagne.
Natarajan got his first Test wicket in the form of Wade, who was caught by Shardul Thakur after he shaped to pull and got cramped for room. Thereafter, he got the wicket of the centurion Labuschagne for 108, as the batsmen was caught by wicketkeeper Pant. Labuschagne as well, was out trying to pull the ball and top-edged a catch.
The other debutant, Washington Sundar also picked up his first Test wicket as he dismissed the in-form Steven Smith for 36.
Earlier in the day, Natarajan was handed his Test cap as he became Team India’s 300th Test player.
The stuff dreams are made of. A perfect treble for @Natarajan_91 as he is presented with #TeamIndia's Test No. 300. It can't get any better! Natu is now an all-format player. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/cLYVBMGfFM
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 14, 2021
India on Friday fielded a relatively inexperienced playing XI, particularly in the bowling department, for the fourth and final Test against Australia at The Gabba.
The overall combined experience of the India playing XI stood at 215 Tests prior to the start of the Brisbane Test, while that of Australia stood at 505, a big difference of 290 Test matches.
When one compares the experience of the bowling attacks of the two teams, India's experience stood at just four Tests in comparison to 246 of Australia (excluding Cameron Green who has played three Tests prior to the Brisbane Test).
Meanwhile, right-arm pacer Navdeep Saini was on Friday taken for scans after he complained of pain in his groin on the opening day the test at The Gabba, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has informed.
The 28-year-old, playing only his second Test, was seen in a lot of discomfort, holding onto his thighs, after his follow-through as he bowled the fifth delivery of the 36th over during Australia's first innings in the post-lunch session. Incidentally, it was the same delivery on which skipper Ajinkya Rahane dropped Marnus Labuschagne at gully.
"Navdeep Saini has complained of pain in his groin. He is currently being monitored by the BCCI medical team," BCCI said in a statement after the incident.
India were already forced to make four changes to their Playing XI which last featured in the third Test in Sydney.
Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Hanuman Vihari have been left out due to respective injuries and in their places T Natarajan, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and Mayank Agarwal have been brought in.
With IANS inputs