Last few months have been surreal, says Indian pacer Natarajan

Left-arm fast bowler T Natarajan, who came out with an impressive performance during his maiden outing with Team India in the limited-overs series against Australia, believes “last few months have been surreal” for him.

On his first international tour, the left-arm pacer stepped up with his yorkers and slower variations, and in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, helped India to a 2-1 T20I series win against Australia as he picked up six wickets in the three matches at an economy of just under seven.

Natarajan made an impact on his ODI debut as well, picking the wickets of Marnus Labuchange and Ashton Agar in another match-winning spell in the third game of the series at the Manuka Oval.

“The last few months have been surreal. My maiden outing with Team India and we won the T20I series. A dream come true moment made special by the champion bunch,” Natarajan said in a tweet on December 9.

“I thank my teammates for their constant support and encouragement. Thank you everyone for your love and support,” he added.

Natarajan had first impressed the cricket fraternity with his yorkers during the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) played in the United Arab

Emirates. Playing for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), he picked 16 wickets in 16 matches and courtesy that he earned an India call-up.

The 29-year-old, however, wasn’t supposed to be in India’s T20I squad. He was originally picked as a net bowler, but an injury to spinner Varun Chakravarthy opened up an opportunity and that’s how Natarajan was added to the squad, an opportunity he seized with both hands.

The T20I leg of the tour, which ended on December 8, however saw Natarajan posing with both the series trophy and the Playerof-the-Series trophy, which Hardik Pandya had handed over to him, in the team photo.