T Natarajan Could Prove To Be The X-Factor For India At The Death: VVS Laxman

Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman believes that newcomer T Natarajan will be the ‘X-factor’ for Team India in the T20 setup. The left-arm fast bowler earned his maiden national call-up for the 3-match T20I series against Australia which on December 4.

“With the T20 World Cup scheduled next year – if you look at the Indian team, it requires someone good at the death. It is great to see the likes of Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini bowl with such confidence in the death. Natarajan being a left-arm will be the X-factor,” Laxman said.

Tamil Nadu based bowler T Natarajan impressed all the cricket fraternity with his precise yorker in the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. Natarajan was a part of IPL’s franchise team SunRisers Hyderabad, which VVS mentors.

Natarajan turned heads as he knocked over the likes of AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni with his pinpoint accuracy throughout the season. He has also accompanied the team on the tour of Australia, he got a place in the team after Varun Chakravarthy was injured.

“Natarajan was always known for those yorkers – even in the TNPL. But, I must say he’s got a lot of variations which he didn’t use in the IPL. He has a sharp bouncer, slower one, off-cutter and has the wicket-taking ability with the new ball,” the SRH mentor stated.

“Essentially, Natarajan has the mindset and the confidence of executing yorkers which we generally believe to be the toughest to deliver. And, he has done consistently and exceedingly well through the IPL, the pick of them being the dismissal of RCB’s AB de Villiers under pressure,” VVS Laxman reasoned.

Natarajan is a Hard-Working Cricketer: VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman also lauded T Natarajan’s work ethic and dedication, saying that the left-arm speedster performed consistently both in the Tamil Nadu cricketing circles and for the Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2017.

“Natarajan is a hard-working cricketer who never missed a training session and is always wanting to work on his skills to be a much better bowler every day. He has been doing really well in the TNPL, he was part of Kings XI Punjab, he did well consistently for Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy. He didn’t get too many opportunities in SRH because of the likes of Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar being the frontline bowlers,” Laxman told Sportstar.