India vs Australia: ‘T Natarajan has put Mohammed Shami under pressure in T20Is,’ believes Sanjay Manjrekar

India vs Australia: ‘T Natarajan has put Mohammed Shami under pressure in T20Is,’ believes Sanjay Manjrekar

(From Left) T Natarajan, Sanjay Manjrekar, Mohammed Shami

(From Left) T Natarajan, Sanjay Manjrekar, Mohammed Shami

Young Indian speedster T Natarajan had a dream debut during the inaugural T20I against Australia at the Manuka Oval, Canberra. Natarajan picked three crucial wickets during the game while defending a low total of 161 runs. 

Former Indian cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar reckoned that Natarjan’s performance would put Mohammed Shami under pressure in T20Is. Manjrekjar believes that Virat Kohli’ men would be tempted to play him as the third seamer alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Deepak Chahar. 

“What he has done is he has put Mohammed Shami under pressure as a T20I bowler. Now, India will be tempted to have him along with Bumrah as one of his seamers,” Manjrekar said on Sony Six.

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“This is a guy who can bowl at the death. If you have Bumrah and Natarajan, it just puts pressure on Shami because Chahar is from a different school of swing,” he added.

‘Nobody imagined Natarajan playing two years back’

T Natarajan impressed at IPL 2020

T Natarajan caught everyone’s eyeballs during his sensational performance in the recently-concluded edition of Indian Premier League. The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler claimed 16 wickets in as many matches while bowling on-demand yorkers. 

Manjrekar talked about the rise of Natarajan and said that nobody had imagined him playing in the national side two years back.

“It’s a great story purely because this is a guy who has come out of nowhere. Today, by playing his first T20I and bowling well there was a wicket he took off length ball of Maxwell. He is not a bowler who will get you wickets only with the yorkers when the batsmen are trying to slog you.

“I just find him amazing. A couple of years ago, who would have thought? He would not have imagined himself in his wildest dreams that he would be challenging the big boys for a place in the Indian team,” Manjrekar said.

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