XtraTime Web Desk: Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Thangarasu Natarajan has become famous overnight after his performance in the IPL 2020 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday. The left arm quick from Salem induced a false shot from the RCB captain Virat Kohli as he was caught at midwicket boundary by Rashid Khan. With opener Aaron Finch looking settled along with Kohli, RCB looked on course for a huge total after the initial burst from debutant Devdutt Padikkal. Coming into bowl the 16th over, Natarajan took the prized wicket of Kohli for only 14 runs. It was a length ball at middle stump. The RCB captain wanted to dispatch it into the stands but was caught at midwicket boundary by Rashid.
The life story of Natarajan is quite an interesting one. He once almost became a coolie trying to earn a living for his family. But an IPL contract with Kings XI Punjab changed everything for the promising left arm seamer from Tamil Nadu. Young Natarajan learnt the basics about bowling, playing tennis ball cricket. He started mastering the art of bowling yorkers l. As his game developed he also learnt the art of bowling cutters.
Touted as India’s Mustafizur Rahman, Natarajan was picked by KXIP for 3 crores for IPL 2017 after his sterling performances in the domestic season.
In his first season for the Kings he picked only 2 wickets in 6 games, nowhere close to attracting the notice of everyone. Despite missing the Ranji season in 2017-18, Natarajan was still picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 40 lakhs. However he was benched for most part of the season as there were other experienced bowlers in the side. But things must just start to fall in place for the 29 year old medium pacer. With the likes of Khaleel Ahmed in the ranks, the emergence of Natarajan will only up more options for the SRH team management.