‘Not many slower balls, yorkers are going to be effective in Test cricket’: Natarajan’s coach

About a month-and-a-half in the past, when India had launched into the tour of Australia, T Natarajan was within the celebration as a web bowler. He was subsequently drafted into the T20I squad adopted by the ODI aspect and performed for India in each codecs. Now Natarajan has been named within the Test squad because the injured Umesh Yadav’s alternative.
Natarajan can be in rivalry to play the third Test in Sydney as India’s third fast bowler. On the face of it, being a left-arm seamer, he brings selection into the tempo assault. Bowling over the wicket, he can create footmarks exterior the right-hander’s off stump for Ravichandran Ashwin to manoeuvre. But the Indian workforce administration must take a name on whether or not he’s prepared for Test cricket in Australia, the place he may need to bowl all day and plan his wickets.
If he performs, Natarajan will return house as a world in all three codecs. For somebody from Chinnappampatti, a village 36 kilometres off Salem in Tamil Nadu, it’s been a fairy-tale rise for the 29-year-old; he confronted hardship as a toddler and teenager and with out his distinctive cricket abilities, may have ended up being a porter or a weaver like his father. Natarajan is the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) reward to Indian cricket. A advantageous season with Sunrisers Hyderabad within the 2020 IPL noticed him improve his repute as a yorker specialist.
With six wickets in three T20Is and one other couple in an ODI in Australia, Natarajan has made a seamless development to white-ball worldwide cricket. But Test cricket is a distinct ball recreation. It’s the final word check of a cricketer’s abilities, the place a medium pacer must transcend pinpoint yorkers, misleading slower deliveries and the cliché {that a} left-arm seamer will add selection. To begin with, Test cricket calls for swing from a tempo bowler other than different variations to get the higher of batsmen. Natarajan’s first-class profession continues to be in its formative stage with simply 20 matches and 64 wickets at 27.03, testifying that he’s not a red-ball thoroughbred but.
“He (Natarajan) is a very good trier and I’m sure that working with (Bharat) Arun (India’s bowling coach), he will learn quickly. As a left-arm seamer, he has that natural angle (the ball that slants across the right-hander) and with the red ball, he could bring the ball in also. But it’s a learning process for him,” Tamil Nadu head coach Diwakar Vasu advised The Indian Express.
Natarajan performs for Tamil Nadu in home cricket and Vasu has been working with him since final season. T20 cricket permits a bowler to be a tad one-dimensional. Yorkers and slower deliveries are staple for quick bowlers within the format the place batsmen attempt to pressure the tempo and commit errors. In Test cricket, batsmen put heavy worth tags on their wickets.
Grabbing the chance
“See, I am very happy for him and want him to play Tests and wishing him success. But I am not saying he is going to be immediately successful. He has to learn and I am sure he is a quick learner. We have to see if he is ready for Test cricket. It will depend on how he grabs the opportunity (if it comes),” Vasu mentioned.
So, what are the facets Natarajan must be taught? “He needs to swing the ball. He needs to bowl a more consistent line. He also needs to cut the ball (off the seam). Test cricket is not easy. Not many of these slower balls and yorkers are going to be effective as far as Test cricket is concerned. And I don’t think that at his pace (around 130kph), bouncers could be a (wicket-taking) option. I think (if he plays), he needs to bowl up, work on his swing, work on his angles. That would be a better option for him,” the Tamil Nadu coach noticed.
The potential disadvantages could make Natarajan a inventory bowler, a restrictive possibility. Vasu agreed. “Somebody who is making his Test debut, who is not express and who doesn’t swing the ball (much); you cannot expect him to be the strike bowler. There are other strike bowlers. He can be used as a bowler who comes in and bowls, and takes a couple of wickets.”
Over the previous two seasons within the Ranji Trophy, Tamil Nadu performed nearly all of their house matches on turners. Natarajan didn’t play all of the video games final season, however Tamil Nadu batsman Baba Aparajith allayed fears just about his potential to bowl lengthy spells.
“I have played with him for three-four years now, and he is a very hardworking bowler. He doesn’t get tired very easily. He can bowl long spells. He can come back and bowl at same pace,” Aparajith advised this paper.
Aparajith captained Natarajan in Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy match in opposition to Railways final season and used the seamer as a strike bowler. “Whenever I brought him back into the attack, the main aim was generally to get wickets,” Aparajith mentioned, insisting that Natarajan might be used as a strike bowler in Tests additionally. “He is very accurate and pretty sharp off the wicket as well.”
Options for third seamer
With Umesh Yadav dominated out of the Test sequence as a consequence of a calf muscle harm he sustained through the second Test, India have three choices for the third seamer’s slot – Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur and Natarajan.
Navdeep Saini
He was picked for all three codecs, however the BCCI knowledgeable that Saini had complained of again spasms forward of the ODI sequence, though he performed two matches. The right-arm fast was very costly, returning figures of 1/83 and 0/70 respectively and wasn’t picked for the T20Is. In a tour recreation in opposition to Australia A, Saini had 3/19 within the first innings however gave away 87 runs in 16 overs with out a wicket within the second. After Mohammed Shami suffered an arm fracture, the Indian workforce administration determined to choose Mohammed Siraj for the second Test and the latter vindicated the choice with a five-wicket match haul on his debut.Saini offers an out-an-out attacking possibility. He can go previous 145kph and when in rhythm, the 28-year-old will be fairly a handful for any batsman due to his tempo and skill to extract bounce. He is a hit-the-deck bowler, who can lower the ball into the right-hander off the seam other than making the odd supply straighten off a size. But Saini will be inconsistent together with his line and size, particularly when batsmen are in command. Restrictive bowling to maintain the batsmen below strain, particularly on unresponsive pitches, is a weak space in his bowling.
Shardul Thakur
Thakur was included within the Test squad as Shami’s alternative. He made his Test debut in opposition to the West Indies in 2018, which stays his solely Test but. A totally-fit Indian fast-bowling unit comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shami and Umesh leaves no emptiness for squad gamers. In Australia, nevertheless, the Indian tempo pack is severely depleted.
A home cricket stalwart with 62 first-class matches and 206 wickets, the 29-year-old can swing the ball each methods at first rate tempo (round 135kph). He can reverse the outdated ball as properly. Thakur offers an all-round possibility when it comes to assault and defence.
T Natarajan
As Vasu mentioned, he might be higher used as a restrictive possibility. Also, as a left-arm seamer bowling over the wicket, Natarajan can create footmarks — with out operating into the hazard space — exterior the right-hander’s off stump — a possible goal spot for off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Traditionally, the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch assists spinners because the match progresses.