Indian former cricketer Virender Sehwag reveals the reason why he picked T Natarajan for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in IPL 2017. During the IPL 2017 auction, T Natarajan was picked by KXIP for a whopping 3 Crores though he had not even played domestic cricket then.
Sehwag Reveals the reason for picking T Natarajan in IPL 2017 auction
While everyone questions Sehwag regarding his selection for KXIP in IPL 2017 auction. Sehwag replies that he had been convinced by seeing videos of Natarajan from the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) of how useful he could be.
“I was very happy because when I had picked Natarajan in the IPL for the Kings XI Punjab, everyone was asking questions that this player has come who has not even played domestic cricket and came after playing just the TNPL league, so how he was picked at such a huge price,”
Sehwag, who was KXIP mentor at the time, responded to a fan query after the 3rd ODI on a post-match show on Sony Sports Network.
“I saw his videos and then decided that we will surely take him at the auction because we did not have a death bowler. Unfortunately that year, he had an injury to the elbow or the knee because of which he could not play too many matches. But we won only the matches that he played in and lost all the other matches,” Sehwag added.
Natarajan Maiden wicket
T Natarajan made his international ODI debut on December 2 2020 against Australia in the 3rd ODI match. Natarajan bagged his maiden ODI wicket in the first match itself.
Sehwag said he was excited to see Natarajan playing for India but would have thought he would have got a breakthrough in the T20 format first.
“So I was very excited to see that he was getting an opportunity although I was thinking that he would be given a chance in the T20Is but it was a surprise for me that he was played in the ODIs.”
India picked a consolation 13-run win in the 3rd ODI against Australia to end the series 2-1 in the hosts’ favour. The two teams will play a three-match T20I series starting from Friday.
