Xtra Time Web Desk: It was a dream come true moment for Thangarasu Natarajan as the left arm fast bowler got his first opportunity to bowl at the India nets during Team India’s practice session at Sydney on Sunday. It was a real inspiring story for the shy cricketer coming from a humble background in a village near Salem in Tamil Nadu. It was his exploits in the recently concluded IPL 2020 that opened the doors of the national team. Natarajan was one of the finds of the IPL 2020 season as he picked 16 wickets in as many matches. But more than his wickets, his accurate Yorkers in the death overs caught the eyes of everyone.
Natarajan was initially picked as a net bowler to travel with the Indian team to Australia. But as fate would have it, he was included in India’s T20I side against Australia as a replacement for the injured Varun Chakravarthy.
The BCCI in its official twitter handle uploaded the visuals of Natarajan bowling at the nets. “We have seen him bowl with a lot of success in the @IPL and here is @Natarajan_91 bowling in the #TeamIndia nets for the first time after his maiden India call-up! A dream come true moment,” BCCI wrote in its tweet along with the video.
It has been a rags to riches for Natarajan who made it to the Indian team has with his sheer hard work. The Indian cricketers trained for the second day at the Blacktown International Sports Park. All the members of the touring party passed their first COVID-19 test. The cricketers were involved in some catching drills given by fielding coach R Sridhar followed by the regular net session.
India will begin their tour of Australia with a three-match ODI series, beginning on November 27 at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).