Thangarasu Natarajan (born 4 April 1991) is an Indian international

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er. He made his debut for the

India cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with T ...

in December 2020. Currently he plays for Delhi Capitals in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

(IPL) and for

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

in domestic cricket. He became the first Indian cricketer to make his international debut across all three formats on the same tour when he was playing in India's 2020–21 tour of Australia.

Early and personal life

Natarajan was born in a Tamil family in Chinnappampatti, a village near Salem in

. His father S. Thangarasu, was a

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working on a powerloom, and his mother runs a fast-food stall. Natarajan is the eldest of five children. Natarajan married his schoolmate Pavithra in June 2018. In November 2020, his wife gave birth to their daughter.

Career

Natarajan made his first-class debut for

in the

2014–15 Ranji Trophy The 2014–15 Ranji Trophy was the 81st edition of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India. It was contested by 27 teams divided into three groups of nine teams each. The top three teams from Groups A and B advanced ...

on 5 January 2015. He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2016–17 Inter State Twenty-20 Tournament on 29 January 2017. He made his

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debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 20 September 2018. In February 2017, Natarajan was bought by the Kings XI Punjab team for the

2017 Indian Premier League The 2017 Indian Premier League season (also known as IPL 10 and branded as Vivo IPL 2017) was the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI ...

for . In January 2018, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL auction. On 26 October 2020, Natarajan was named as one of four additional bowlers to travel with the

for their tour to Australia. On 9 November 2020, he was added to India's

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) squad, replacing Varun Chakravarthy who was ruled out due to an injury. Ahead of the first

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) match, he was added to India's squad as a cover for Navdeep Saini, who was suffering with a back spasm. Natarajan made his ODI debut for India against

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on 2 December 2020. Natarajan made his T20I debut for India, in the first T20I against Australia, on 4 December 2020, taking 3/30. In the second T20I, Natarajan picked 2/20 in his 4 overs in a high-scoring match. Natarajan's

yorker In cricket, a yorker is a ball bowled (a delivery) which bounces by the batsman's feet. This makes it very challenging for a batter to play. When a batsman assumes a normal stance, a yorker generally bounces on the cricket pitch on or near th ...

s, cutters and pace variations in the death overs drew praise. He had figures of 1/33 in the third T20I as India won the series 2–1. On 30 December 2020, Natarajan was added to India's

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squad ahead of the third match against Australia. He made his Test debut against Australia on 15 January 2021, dismissing

Matthew Wade Matthew Scott Wade (born 26 December 1987) is an Australian former international cricketer. He plays domestic cricket for the Tasmanian cricket team, who he also captains, and for Hobart Hurricanes. In December 2020, Wade List of Australia nati ...

for his first international Test wicket. In March 2021, Natarajan was part of the limited-overs squads of England's tour of India. He made his first appearance in the high-scoring fifth T20I at Ahmedabad, taking 1/39 as India won the match to clinch the series 3–2. Natarajan appeared in another series-decider, the third ODI against England at Pune, where he replaced the spinner

Kuldeep Yadav Kuldeep Yadav (born 14 December 1994) is an Indian international cricketer. A left-arm unorthodox spinner, he plays for Uttar Pradesh cricket team, Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket and Delhi Capitals in the 2022 Indian Premier League, Indian ...

in what was described as a "tactical move" by captain

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...

. With England needing 14 runs off the last over, Natarajan conceded just 6 runs to help India win the series. Natarajan played two matches at the 2021 Indian Premier League before being ruled out of the first leg of the tournament with a knee injury. He regained fitness ahead of the second leg of the tournament, before being sidelined due to

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on the day before Sunrisers Hyderabad's first match. In February 2022, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the

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for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament for . He finished as the second highest wicket-taker for his team with 18 wickets from 11 matches. In November 2024, Delhi Capitals brought him for in

for 2025 Indian Premier League.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Natarajan, T 1991 births Living people Indian cricketers India Test cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Tamil Nadu cricketers Punjab Kings cricketers Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketers People from Salem district Tamil sportspeople Delhi Capitals cricketers