India have found a fine left-arm pacer after quite a while in T Natarajan. His ability to nail the yorker has seen him get fast-tracked into the Indian team for the tour of Australia. He has been absolutely sensational in the ODI that he played as well as the first two T20Is Down Under. There have been quite a few pacers from Tamil Nadu who have represented the Men in Blue in ODIs. Here we have a look at all of them.
1. TA Sekhar – 1982
TA Sekhar was the first pacer from Tamil Nadu to represent team India in ODIs. At he best, he was probably the fastest bowler in the country during his time. But unfortunately, he could not get as many chances as he would have deserved. He played Test cricket for India when he called to the Indian squad to play two Tests against Pakistan in place of Madan Lal who was injured.
Playing an ODI too against Pakistan, Sekhar then played another three ODIs against England in 1985. Unfortunately, that was all the international cricket experience that he got for India, having no success in Test cricket and five wickets in ODI cricket with the best spell of 3-23. He might have been a big success for India had he got the backing and the opportunities with the raw pace that he had.
2. Bharat Arun – 1986
Bharat Arun has been yet another Tamil Nadu pacer who played for India in ODIs but couldn’t quite reach the heights that he was destined to. He played one ODI each against Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the 1986-87 season and managed to pick up only a solitary wicket.
Arun continued to contribute to Indian cricket as he was appointed as India’s bowling coach in July 2017. He is still a part of India’s team management and continues to help out India’s fiery bowling attack with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, etc.
3. T Kumaran – 1999
Born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, T Kumaran impressed one and all in the 1999 Irani Trophy and was picked in India’s squad for the Carlton & United one-day series. In the 8 ODIs that he played for India, Kumaran managed to pick up 9 wickets with best figures of 3-24.
He never really got an opportunity after that as the likes of Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, etc. were preferred over him. He went on to play in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) and performed really well, picking up 6 wickets on debut. However, he never got a look-in into the Indian team again.
4. L Balaji – 2003
Laxmipathy Balaji was making his name in domestic cricket and made his debut for India in Tests in 2003 against New Zealand. He played well against Australia in the seven-match ODI series in 2004, picking up 12 wickets. He was a crucial part of the Indian team that made history by winning their first-ever ODI series in Pakistan in 2004.
His future was bright, but injuries kept him out of action for a long time. He was fantastic for the Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, becoming the first Indian player to bag an IPL hattrick. He went on to play 30 ODIs and took 34 wickets but did not quite fulfil his potential.
4. T Natarajan – 2020
T Natarajan is the latest addition to the pacers from Tamil Nadu who represented India in ODIs. Chinnappampatti in Tamil Nadu was his birthplace and coming from a humble background, he made his name as a T20 specialist in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. He was picked up by the Kings XI Punjab in the IPL auction but couldn’t quite create an impact for them.
IPL 2020 was his breakthrough season where he was absolutely fantastic for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Like Jasprit Bumrah, Natarajan made a reputation for himself as someone who is a fantastic death bowler and someone who nails his yorkers.
He earned his maiden India call-up in the 2020 tour of Australia. Making his ODI debut at Canberra in the third ODI, Natarajan picked up 2 wickets and was impressive as India beat Australia by 13 runs. He took his stunning form into the T20Is, where he picked 5 wickets in 2 T20Is. The 29-year-old is destined to have a wonderful career with team India and just needs to be managed properly.
