T Natarajan, the left-arm closer for Tamil Nadu and Sunrisers Hyderabad, has been added to India’s ODI squad, just hours before the series opener, as a cover for Navdeep Saini. According to a BCCI press release, Saini had complained of “back spasm”.
Natarajan wasn’t on either of the white-ball teams in the first place, but an injury to fellow state Varun Chakravarthy earned him his first national call-up for the T20I leg of the Australia tour.
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Natarajan excelled in the death overs for the Sunrisers at IPL 2020 in the United Arab Emirates, throwing 71 yorkers during this phase, more than double the next best. He conceded 57 of these 71 submissions, for an economy of 4.81, while collecting five wickets, including AB de Villiers in the Eliminator against the Royal Challengers Bangalore led by Kohli.
Natarajan has played 15 List A matches so far, picking up 16 wickets at an average of 30.81 and an economy rate of 4.30. His rise has been remarkable because it is unusual for selectors to choose a 29-year-old without a cap. The last two fast bowlers to make their international debut for India after 29 were S Aravind in 2015 and Pankaj Singh in 2014. Before that, one has to go back to 1994 when Bhupinder Singh Snr. he made his ODI debut, then going back to 1958, when Ghulam Guard played the first of his two tests.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Shardul Thakur are the other top-of-the-line bowling options for India in their ODI squad.
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