CHENNAI: Thangarasu Natarajan is a simple man. His success mantra has been to stick to the basics and work hard until he gets the desired result. On Tuesday, the world got a glimpse of what the left-arm pacer is capable of when he nailed yorkers in the death overs to help Sunrisers Hyderabad defend 162 against Delhi Capitals.
The art of mastering those near-perfect yorkers did not happen overnight. Hailing from Chinnappampatty, a small town near Salem in Tamil Nadu, the 29-year-old braved all odds to pursue his dream to play cricket. His father was a daily wage labourer while mother used to run a wayside tea stall. Eldest of five siblings, Natarajan rose to prominence in Tamil Nadu Premier League in 2016 when he executed yorkers to perfection to grab the eyeballs of the IPL scouts.
Being one-dimensional did not help him make a mark in the IPL as he ended with two wickets from six matches in 2017 when he was picked by Kings XI Punjab for a whopping Rs 3 crore. The money though helped him take care of his sisters’ education and start an academy back home. Despite a mediocre stint, Hyderabad bowling coach and spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan trusted his abilities and drafted him in the Orange Army’s side. Though he warmed the bench for two seasons in 2018, 2019, working with a fellow Tamilian was a learning curve for Natarajan.
Having possessed the natural angle and movement that takes the ball away from the right-handers, it was Muralitharan who made Natarajan realise the need to have more weapons in his arsenal. After 2018 IPL, the 29-year-old went back to the TN bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji and worked on his in-swingers apart from perfecting the yorkers.
The pacer was finally included in the XI in Hyderabad’s opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore this edition. And on Tuesday, he showed what he can offer as his yorkers helped SRH. Over the years, the pacer has been hit by frequent injuries. But he has only come back stronger whenever a ball has been thrown at him. A breakthrough IPL is all he will be hoping for after spending endless hours at the nets.
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