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VVS Laxman feels T Natarajan could be X factor for India in T20 World Cup

From warming the benches in IPL 2019 to getting an India call-up for the tough tour Down Under, Thangarasu Natarajan’s journey has been nothing short of a fairy tale. Despite being on his maiden international tour, his Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman spoke highly on the left-arm pacer and feels that he could be India’s X factor in theT20 World Cup slated to be played in India in 2021. Laxman said that Natarajan’s left-arm angle and his ability to bowl yorkers on a consistent basis sets him apart from the rest of the Indian pacers.

"With the T20 World Cup scheduled next year - if you look at the Indian team, it requires someone good at the death," Laxman was quoted as saying by The Hindu. "It is great to see the likes of Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini bowl with such confidence in the death. Natarajan being a left-armer will be the X-factor."

Natarajan was a revelation in the recently concluded IPL and the way he rose through the ranks in a short span of time is simply commendable. He bowled torkers at will troubling majority of the top class batters. The highlight for Natarajan this season was the yorker he bowled to AB de Villiers which castled his timbers. 

It must be noted that Natarajan bowled 71 yorkers in the IPL, 43 more than Karthik Tyagi, who was second in the list. He ended the tournament with 16 wickets under his belt but his ability to contain in the death overs and consistently bowl in the blockholes made everyone take notice of the 29-year-old.

"He has been doing well right from the practice matches before the IPL began in the UAE," Laxman said. "The kind of confidence level he showed right from the start was amazing. That is the reason why we gave him the chance ahead of Khaleel Ahmed and once Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) was ruled out with an injury, he became an important cog in the attack."

Meanwhile, Laxman further stated that Natarajan's yorker skills were well known from the TNPL but he was pretty impressed with the variations that Natrajan have up his sleeve. Though he managed to make a name for himself with his yorkers, Natarajan also bowled the slower ones and the bouncers with some confidence. 

"Natarajan was always known for those yorkers - even in the TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League). But, I must say he's got a lot of variations which he didn't use in the IPL. He has a sharp bouncer, slower one, off-cutter, and has the wicket-taking ability with the new ball.

"Essentially, Natarajan has the mindset and the confidence of executing yorkers which we generally believe to be the toughest to deliver. And, he has done consistently and exceedingly well through the IPL, the pick of them being the dismissal of RCB's AB de Villiers under pressure."

"Natarajan is a hard-working cricketer who never missed a training session and is always wanting to work on his skills to be a much better bowler every day," Laxman said. "He has been doing really well in the TNPL, he was part of Kings XI Punjab, he did well consistently for Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy.

"He didn't get too many opportunities in SRH (in 2018 and 2019) because of the likes of Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar being the frontline bowlers."

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