IND vs AUS | Natarajan is a good bowler, bowls unbelievable yorkers, asserts Mohammed SirajÂ
Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has heaped praise on his fellow pacer T Natarajan and termed him a 'good' bowler, who delivers phenomenal yorkers. He also added that the bowling unit had clear cut plans and it was to build pressure and cut off areas of run scoring for the Australian batsmen.
Salem's T Natarajan was one of the most brilliant stories to come out of India's recent tour of Australia among many inspiring tales. Not only because he belonged to a humble background and rose thus far but he is a bowler who belongs to the bigger stage and has the temperament to succeed at the top-level. His ability to bowl impeccable yorkers in limited-overs cricket made him a household name after his brilliant displays in the IPL and then the T20I series in Australia, where he put up a remarkable bowling display. Â
Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj, who was leading the bowling attack by the Gabba Test, due to many injuries in the side, termed Natarajan a 'good bowler' and also said it was great to see him playing all the formats from being a 'net bowler' when he came to the tour.Â
"Ajji bhai (Ajinkya Rahane) and Ravi (Shastri) sir decided to give the winning trophy to Natarajan to hold because it was his debut match. He came as a net bowler. He made his debuts in T20Is then ODIs and then Tests. He is a good bowler. He stays calm and doesn't speak much. He knows what he has to do. He bowls unbelievable yorkers," Siraj told TimesofIndia.com.
Even when experts think of India's incredible series win over Australia now, it seems as surreal as India won despite many setbacks and a very inexperienced bowling attack. The bowling line up consisting of Shardul Thakur, Natarajan, Navdeep Saini, Siraj and Washington Sundar for Gabba had taken even lesser wickets than Australia's sixth choice bowler Marnus Labuschagne (12 wickets) but they bowled really well to get 20 wickets. Siraj revealed that they had set plans in place and it worked out well. Â
"We (Shardul, Natarajan, Saini, and Siraj) selected some areas where we had to bowl regularly. We decided to cut off certain scoring areas. We didn't want to give many runs. I would give a lot of credit to Saini also. He got injured and then again came back onto the field. He is a brave bowler," Siraj said.
"Shardul and I sat for some time in Brisbane and planned how to build pressure. Of course, a team is under pressure when it loses its big players. We also lost some big players due to injuries. But such is our support and coaching staff that they can make anything possible."
He also added that when a team builds enough pressure, the batsman is bound to make mistakes which happened with a formidable Australian team as well.Â
"The bowling plan was to build pressure from both ends. When you build pressure, a batsman will surely make a mistake. That's what happened. We built the pressure and the Australians gave away their wickets," the Indian pacer said.