Ravi Shastri names a bowler who was missed by India in T20 World Cup 2021: Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri opens up on the lack of having a left-arm bowling option in the recently held ICC T20 World Cup. Team India made an early exit from the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, which was held in the UAE, owing to poor performance. The Men in Blue couldn’t even reach the knockout stage in the world tournament.
Shastri in his recent interaction with ESPN revealed that team India missed T Natarajan during the World Cup in the UAE.
Notably, Natarajan was ruled out of the entire T20 World Cup after he had sustained a knee injury during the home series against England in March 2021.
“Very happy for him. We missed him in the World Cup. He would’ve been a certainty had he been fit. He got injured against England when we were playing the ODI series and we really missed him (in the World Cup),” Shastri said on ESPNCricinfo.
The former Indian coach further added that he is a gun death bowler who can consistently hit yorkers and trouble the opposition.
“He’s that specialist death bowler, bowls those yorkers very skilfully. He’s got great control. He is skiddy. A bit quicker than you think and hits the bat,” Shastri added.
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Natarajan made his three-formats debut for India against Australia:
T Natarajan impressed everyone with his sensational death bowling in the IPL 2020. The left-arm pacer soon travelled with the Indian side as a net bowler to Australia back in 2020-21 but ended up making his debut in all three formats owing to a string of injuries to the Indian players.
Shastri reckons Natarajan as the lucky charm of the Indian side, as team India has won every match in which he has featured.
“Every game I’ve picked him we won. In his debut in T20, India win. In his debut in Test cricket, India win. From a net bowler, he played those other two formats,” Shastri added.
Meanwhile, T Natarajan has made a commendable comeback to franchise cricket after 12-months long break due to injury. The speedster picked up two wickets for his franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, by giving away 26 runs in his four overs against Lucknow Super Giants in the DY Patil Stadium in the ongoing IPL 2022.
He was bought back by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during the player auction for INR 4 Crores.
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