“He has not put himself on the park for the last 3 years” – Ravichandran Ashwin on T Natarajan’s exclusion from Duleep Trophy 2024 squads

India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up on T Natarajan’s exclusion from Duleep trophy squads. Natarajan hasn’t played any red-ball cricket in the last three years since he has recovered from injury.

The left-arm seamer made his Test debut against Australia in the historic Gabba Test match on the 2020-21 tour, in which he returned with figures of 3-78 in the first innings.

Meanwhile, Natarajan played two ODIs and four T20Is for India before he was sidelined with an injury. The left-arm seamer had a good season for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024, picking 19 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 24.47 and an economy rate of 9.05. Thus, he played an instrumental role in taking the Orange Army to the final of the cash-rich tournament.

Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “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.”

On the other hand, Ashwin also observed Baba Indrajith from close quarters while leading Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. Indrajith played a key role in his team’s success, scoring 286 runs in 10 matches at an impressive average of 40.86. Ashwin hailed the right-hander for his game against the spinners.

“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.