After knee surgery, bowler T Natarajan is working on his strength training and variations for the second phase of IPL 2021.

The 30-year-old suffered an injury during the tour of Australia and aggravated it during the first leg of the IPL in India.

“I was very happy to be in the [Sunrisers Hyderabad] team after a long time,” Natarajan told “It made me happy to work with my old teammates in the same spirit. I made good progress doing a lot of bowling sessions at the NCA (National Cricket Academy) and it was helpful. So, coming from [NCA], the first season in the UAE It was a little easy for me.

Lot of bowling sessions at the NCA:

“I think in the NCA, I didn’t have much control in the first two seasons, but once I kept bowling more overs, I improved and gained confidence from that. That preparation made me believe that I can do that at any point in time. Can do anything. Time. I had a lot of bowling sessions at the NCA. After coming here [in the UAE], I also worked on my strength training and my variations with the ball. So, I went into the IPL. I’m sure.”

Natarajan said, “The pressure is always there. “If we start winning early, there are chances that the table may turn. Yes, there is pressure, but we will go ahead with the goal of winning several games in the beginning.”

Natarajan’s name came up for discussion during the meeting:

India’s chief selector Chetan Sharma said though Natarajan’s name came up for discussion during the meeting, his injury pushed him down the pecking order. Natarajan himself said that he did not expect to make the cut considering the recent times. His last competitive game was for Sunrisers against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai in April. And later he missed the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), which was also held in Chennai.

Injury-affected break:

During his injury-affected break, Natarajan had also traveled from Bengaluru, where he was training at the NCA. Chennai to see Periyaswamy against V Gautam, another product of Natarajan’s cricket academy in the TNPL. Gautam has also had a taste for the IPL, having been a net bowler for Chennai Super Kings in the last few seasons.

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