Stats: Thangarasu Natarajan goes run less in 10 consecutive first-class innings

Thangarasu Natarajan came into the spotlight when Kings XI Punjab bought him for 3 crore INR in the IPL auction for the 2017 season. Natarajan’s bowling in the inaugural edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) caught the eye of the franchises resulting in high demand for him. The left-arm pacer made things tough for the batsmen with his occasional cutters and yorkers and was hailed as the Indian version of the Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman.

Natarajan failed to live up to the hype but he bounced back strongly whenever he turned up for his state team Tamil Nadu. In the ongoing season, Natarajan claimed 18 wickets across 8 innings with a fifer. Thangarasu Natarajan, the left-arm quick, ended the season with a batting record in his account. The left-handed batter might not be proud of his achievement as he became the first Indian to spend ten consecutive innings in first-class cricket without scoring a run.

Natarajan last scored a run in this format against Punjab in December 2018 where he remained unbeaten on one after facing five balls. Natarajan’s last 10 FC knocks read 0, 0*, 0*, 0, 0, 0, 0*, 0*, 0*, 0. He now has batted in 22 innings during his first-class career but only scored 28 runs with a best of 12. Across his last 17 innings in this format, Natarajan has had only three scoring shots – two singles and a boundary. With the 10-innings streak, the Tamil Nadu pacer broke the record held by three players.

Govindamenon Jayakumar and Prasanth Parameswaran went 9 successive first-class innings without scoring a run when they were part of the Kerala team. Ankit Rajpoot also failed to get a run in this format across nine successive innings during 2015-16 and 2016-17. Natarajan’s streak will resume in the next season where he will have a chance of breaking longest streak in first-class cricket held by Mark Robinson during the 1990 season where he went run-less in 12 straight innings.

Tamil Nadu failed to qualify for the knockouts in this Ranji Trophy. This meant Natarajan’s tournament ended with only five appearances. The left-handed batsman went seven innings in those five matches without scoring a run and was dismissed for a duck on four occasions. The seven innings he batted without scoring a run are the 2nd most by any player in a single Ranji Trophy season. G Jayakumar of Kerala went 9 innings without a run in the 1990/91 where he bagged five ducks.

(Stats as on February 15, 2020)