Virat Kohli hands T Natarajan his maiden international cap ahead of Canberra ODI against Australia

Prior to their third and final ODI against Australia at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, India made as many as four changes to their playing eleven. The Men in Blue roped in Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and T Natarajan. Among the four of them, it was Natarajan, who went on to make his ODI debut. The left-arm pacer came in place of a misfiring Navdeep Saini.

Natarajan got his maiden call-up in the T20I squad after Varun Chakravarthy was ruled out. However, he was also added to the ODI team after Saini complained of back spam prior to the opening ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The southpaw was excellent for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2020 edition of the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL).

T Natarajan performing well

Though the SRH, captained by David Warner, couldn’t qualify for the final, Natarajan caught the limelight with his fiery bowling. In 16 matches, he picked up as many wickets and was the second-highest wicket-taker for his team after Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan. He was incredible, especially in the death overs where he delivered the yorkers with utmost ease and precision.

He came up the ranks through the Tamil Nadu Premier League and has managed to come a long way. The pitches in Australia are helpful for the pacers and Natarajan will have a chance of weaving magic with the ball in hand.

The official Twitter handle of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) uploaded a video where Natarajan got his maiden ODI cap. In the clip, Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, was seen handing over the cap to the talented speedster.

“A massive day for @Natarajan_91 today as he makes his #TeamIndia debut. He becomes the proud owner of 232. Go out and give your best, champ! #AUSvIND,” the BCCI wrote.

Here’s the video

A massive day for @Natarajan_91 today as he makes his #TeamIndia debut. He becomes the proud owner of 🧢 232. Go out and give your best, champ! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/YtXD3Nn9pz

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2020

India have already conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead to the opposition, losing the first two ODIs at the SCG. Both instances, the hosts put forth massive scores while batting first and albeit India scored over 300, they ended up on the losing side. In Canberra, they would be looking to salvage some pride.