T Natarajan attributes Australia success to IPL stint, thanks David Warner & Virat Kohli

After a dream tour of Australia saw him go from net bowler to a star debutante, India's young pace bowling sensation, T Natarajan looks back on his tour with fondness. A breakthrough IPL performance in 2020, saw Natarajan included in the Indian squad travelling to Australia. A spate of injuries to the contingent allowed him to make otherwise unlikely debuts across formats - an opportunity Natarajan seized with both hands, taking 11 wickets throughout the tour.

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T Natarajan looks back at his Australia tour; credits IPL for performance abroad

Now a part of SRH's list of retained players for 2021, Natarajan credited the IPL with giving him the confidence, exposure and skills to make it big at the international level. Talking to the media after the rousing welcome he received in his hometown of  Chinnappampatti, Tamil Nadu, the youngster said that his time at the IPL played a huge role in his success against the dominating Australian batting lineup. Natarajan has been a part of the league for four years and in his own words, the communication and tips he has taken from players and coaches - both international and Indian - have been invaluable to his success

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He also talked about how he felt going up against his IPL team captain, David Warner, saying: "He has tweeted about me and said he feels proud about me. He has captained me at Sunrisers and during a match, he told me that I'm very lucky and told me everything has happened after my daughter was born. He has had these friendly and emotional chats with me". Natarajan missed the birth of his daughter, who was born during the IPL playoffs, but said that "for my wife and my family, me representing the country gave them greater happiness." He will next be seen during the India vs England ODI and T20I series in February. 

The 27-year-old also talked about the pressures of making his international debut in such conditions, adding that captain Virat Kohli's decision to hand him the trophy after India's T20I victory followed by Ajinkya Rahane's decision to hand him the Border-Gavaskar trophy moved him to tears. "I didn't expect Virat Kohli to come over and hand the trophy to me; I was just standing on the side. Kann Kalangitten [I teared up]. When a legend like Kohli came in and gave the trophy over to me it was a great feeling - I can't describe it", he concluded.

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SRH list of retained players 2021

David Warner, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddharth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

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Image Credits: T Natarajan Twitter