T Natarajan had a breakout IPL season last year in which he carved a niche for himself as a bowler who could bowl yorkers at will. Not only did he execute the most yorkers by any bowler – a staggering 71 – but he also accounted for some world-class stars like MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers.
And the words of wisdom were imparted after he dismissed the former India captain in Match 29.
November 6, 2020 was another auspicious day for T Natarajan. The 30-year-old played a key role in the Eliminator against RCB, picking up two wickets including that of AB de Villiers with arguably one of the balls of the season. The victory that night was extra sweet as it coincided with the birth of his baby girl.
Both results and rewards have been plenty for Natarajan ever since the exchange with MS Dhoni. After ending IPL 2020 with 16 wickets from as many games, he earned a ticket to Australia as a net bowler. But as luck would have it, with the visitors ravaged by injuries, the Salem-born pacer became the first Indian to debut in all three formats on the same tour.
“I believed 100 percent that I could execute the yorker” – T Natarajan
T20 cricket is increasingly getting stacked in favour of batsmen. And if the match is played at a small ground like Sharjah or the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the margin for error becomes negligible for bowlers.
However, it was just sheer self-belief that helped T Natarajan nail the yorkers and finish IPL 2020 with an economy rate of 8.02. This was despite bowling all the difficult overs and bowling to the likes of Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and AB de Villiers among many others.
SRH begin their IPL 2021 campaign on Sunday (April 11) against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai. If they are to harbour any chance of repeating their 2016 success, T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will have to be at the top of their game.
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