T20 has shown that defending even 12 runs per over across six-seven overs is a tough ask. This is the task that was presented to Thangarasu Natarajan when he was given the ball in the 14th over of the second innings on Tuesday. In his previous two overs, he had conceded 12.
Brought back into the attack, he had Shimron Hetmyer at the striker's end. At the other end was Rishabh Pant. Even though both Pant and Hetmyer have gone on to play Tests, they are the ultimate definition of the modern batsman: power-hitters capable of clearing the front leg and launching the ball over the boundary.
The left-armer, though, has one weapon up his sleeve. The yorker.
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September 4, 2016. The scene is the India Cements Ground in Tirunelveli. The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) encounter between Albert Tuti Patriots and Dindigul Dragons has gone into overtime. After both teams finished on 120, the latter scored 12 in the Super Over.
It's the sort of Super Over total that emboldens the batsmen. All it takes is two bad balls. Natarajan has the ball in his hand. Defend this and the Indian Premier League scouts will probably start watching his videos, take notes and put him under the 'Buy this uncapped Indian' list.
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In 2017, in a column for the ICC, Shane Bond, one of those who had a mean yorker, wrote: "One of the things I keep getting asked is whether bowling the yorker is becoming a dying art. I don't think so –- it is just that the yorker is being used differently, and bowlers are also experimenting with a range of slower balls. The yorker is not just one of the most difficult balls to bowl, the margin for error is also extremely small. Therefore, it becomes vital to use that weapon judiciously."
The former Kiwi speedster is right when he says the margin for error is 'extremely small'. Get it wrong by about 30 cms and the ball will, nine times out of 10, make that journey back over the bowler's head and into the stands.
Natarajan knows this. Pant and Hetmyer know this. If it's 30 cms short, it becomes a half-volley. If it's 30 cms too full, it's a full-toss. The Tamil Nadu pacer has only 30 cms to play with.
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Abhinav Mukund and Anand Subramanian are walking out for Tuti. The equation is simple. Six balls, 13 runs.
The 25-year-old Natarajan, whose action resembles Mustafizur Rahman a bit, is on the money for four of those six balls. He follows one yorker after another, each one angling into the batsmen's toes like a homing pigeon. He also catches Subramanian plumb in front.
The end result? Dindigul wins by seven runs.
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Watching on, one of the IPL teams, Kings XI Punjab, decided he would be a good term investment. So he was bought by the franchise before the 2017 edition of the IPL for Rs 3 crores from a base price of Rs 10 lakh.
In the six matches he played for Kings XI, it's fair to say he under punched; two wickets at an economy of 9.08.
Before leaving the franchise, they gave him a piece of advice. "(...) many in Kings XI stressed upon was the nature of the T20 format itself," he had told The New Indian Express in 2017. "The reason behind why they chose me was the way my game had already been tailored. And since the format doesn't give much breathing space in terms of improvement, they asked me to stick to what I knew. But, they asked me to do that while keeping the state of the game in my mind. They asked me to focus more on building situational awareness, and that I think has helped me improve as a player."
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July 2018. It's another Super Over in the TNPL. This time it's between Kovai Kings and Karaikudi Kaalai. Natarajan has 14 runs to play with.
The radar is off the mark. Rather than finding yorkers, he errs in length. All the six balls are either half-volleys or knee-high full tosses but the two batsmen, Anirudha Srikkanth and R Kavin, manage only nine. Even if Natarajan wins the game for Karaikudi, this night is a valuable lesson in the art he specialises in. End-over yorkers. Get it wrong by a few inches on either side and risk going the distance.
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Hetmyer is on three and Pant, who has just smashed sixes of consecutive deliveries, is on 20. With Rashid Khan bowling like a dream (3-0-10-2) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar having two overs remaining, Delhi know they have to target the inexperienced (at this level) southpaw.
The first ball can be classified as an almost yorker and Hetmyer digs it for one. The next is a bowler's nightmare. It's a full toss down the leg side and Natarajan escapes. It's 'just' four leg-byes. The next four legal deliveries are all beautifully executed yorkers that go for four singles. Sticking to what he knows.
It's the start of the 18th over. The required run rate has zoomed to 14.66. He has Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel to contend with. The former has been in good T20 form. Earlier in the summer in England, he was hitting Chris Jordan and Mark Wood for boundaries.
It's again yorker after yorker. He gets it wrong once but crucially it's a low full toss and not the half-volley and Stoinis wants. On the last ball of Natarajan's spell, he nails another yorker. The Australian misses it and it's lbw. A simple decision for the umpire to make. There is even a hint of shape back into the right-hander.
On Twitter, Virender Sehwag, a mentor at Kings XI when the bowler was there, is happy. "Delighted for Natarajan," he posts. "Excellent execution of yorkers at the end." Sitting in the dugout studio, Brett Lee purrs. "That's how you bowl at the back end of an innings! Outstanding Natarajan."
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On a day when Hyderabad came back to winning ways thanks to the usual suspects, a quiet man from a village near Salem was near impregnable.