Ravichandran Ashwin justifies T Natarajan’s absence from Duleep Trophy

Legendary spinner R Ashwin justified T Natarajan’s absence from the upcoming Duleep Trophy, slated to begin on September 5. The 33-year-old has been terrific for Tamil Nadu, Sunrisers Hyderabad and IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans in white-ball cricket but due to fitness concerns, the pacer hasn’t played red-ball cricket and is currently much lower in the pecking order.

Natarajan made his debut against Australia in 2020 and was touted to be one of India’s next pace sensations. However, injuries hampered his career immensely as he played his last Test against Australia in 2021. After that, he briefly played white-ball cricket for India before spending several months on the sidelines. 

In IPL 2024, Natarajan picked up 19 wickets and helped Hyderabad qualify for the finals. In TNPL, he claimed 12 wickets, helping Tiruppur qualify for the playoffs. Meanwhile, despite his recent success, BCCI didn’t consider Natarajan for the Duleep Trophy. Explaining that, Ashwin reminded that the pacer is a fantastic white-ball bowler but since he hasn’t played enough red-ball cricket, it wouldn’t make sense for him to feature in the tournament.

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“I feel Natarajan is a fantastic white-ball bowler. He did well in IPL this year. His last first-class match was Australia vs India at Brisbane January 15th in 2021. He has not put himself on the park for the last 3 years. He is broken down when he's picked and he is not played. We are backing him a lot. I like Natarajan a lot. He is a very good guy. But, just for the sake of it, I won't say it today. If Natarajan played red-ball cricket and made it to Tamil Nadu, I will definitely say that he should play there,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Notably, after his knee surgery, Natarajan was part of the Tamil Nadu squad for the Ranji Trophy but the pacer failed to break into the playing XI. The upcoming edition of domestic cricket will be vital for him, as it can be an ultimatum as far as the Indian team is concerned.