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Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently commented on T Natarajan not finding a place in the four squads for the upcoming 17th edition of the Duleep Trophy. He opined that the left-arm seamer would have been in consideration had he played red-ball cricket recently.
Ashwin pointed out that Natarajan hasn't featured in the red-ball format since his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane in January 2021. The seasoned campaigner also highlighted that the pacer had to remain on the sidelines due to injury concerns.
Speaking in his latest YouTube video, Ashwin said (from 12:21):
"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."
T Natarajan looked impressive for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year. The 33-year-old was the leading wicket-taker for SRH this season, bagging 19 wickets from 14 outings.
It is worth mentioning that Natarajan hasn't played a lot of red-ball cricket since undergoing knee surgery in 2021. He was part of Tamil Nadu's squad for the 2024 Ranji Trophy but wasn't included in the playing XI throughout the competition.
"One of the finest players of spin bowling" - Ravichandran Ashwin on Baba Indrajith
In the same video, Ravichandran Ashwin praised Tamil Nadu's Baba Indrajith. He hailed the right-handed batter as one of the best players of spin bowling.
Ashwin mentioned that Indrajith's name doesn't get highlighted a lot because Tamil Nadu haven't achieved much success in the Ranji Trophy lately. Hoping that Indrajit makes the most of his opportunity in the Duleep Trophy, he said (from 25:48):
"One of the finest players of spin bowling. One of the finest. At this point of time, I have bowled for so many players. I think he is one of the finest players. There is no doubt about that. He is very close. I have been watching him since 2016-2017. He makes a lot of runs. He hits runs season-to-season. But, Tamil Nadu doesn't qualify much. That's why, his name didn't get hit."
"Last year, he hit 700 runs until the semi-final. Otherwise, he would have struggled this time. Very, very fine player. He is in a good phase. I really hope, in this Duleep Trophy, he makes it count with a few 100s," Ashwin added.
Baba Indrajith is part of Team B in the 2024 Duldeep Trophy. The Abhimanyu Easwaran-led side will take on Team A at Anantapur in the tournament opener on September 5.
