"T Natarajan looks like a bright prospect for sure" - Rohit Sharma

India's Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma hailed the efforts of left-arm pacer T Natarajan on his Test debut. The 29-year-old picked up three wickets in Australia's first innings and was economical.

T Natarajan received his maiden India call-up on the tour to Australia after having impressed in the IPL 2020 season. Picking up two wickets on his ODI debut at Canberra, he was the find of the T20I series, with six wickets from three games.

Injury to speedster Jasprit Bumrah saw T Natarajan make his Test debut at the Gabba. In a virtual press-conference after the end of the second day's play, Rohit Sharma explained how well Natarajan has adapted to Test cricket.

"T Natarajan is a bright prospect for us. He showed a lot of discipline when he played for India in the white-ball format. Then to have a Test match like that, first spell he bowled was very accurate, if I have to judge," Rohit Sharma said.

Rohit Sharma praised T Natarajan for understanding his game and what he needed to tweak to shift from white-ball to red-ball cricket. The 33-year-old believes Team India have unearthed a potential star in the Salem-born pacer.

"(As) somebody who is playing his first Test, we can really say that he understands his bowling really well. It is something that India wants. Natarajan was trying to do what was expected out of him and I think he looks like a bright prospect for sure," Sharma added.

"Washington Sundar and T Natarajan showed a lot of character" - Rohit Sharma

Washington Sundar (R) celebrates with Rohit Sharma after dismissing Steve Smith

Apart from T Natarajan, Rohit Sharma also applauded all-rounder Washington Sundar for his impressive performance on his Test debut. T20 specialist Sundar's selection for the Gabba Test ahead of Kuldeep Yadav had raised a few eyebrows.

Oh my goodness! Did that one go the other way? @hcltech | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/H8khO6TjK3

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 16, 2021

However, the youngster justified his selection by claiming three wickets in the first innings. Rohit Sharma revealed that the team management had full faith in both the debutants despite their inexperience since the duo had played a decent amount of first-class cricket.

"They (T Natarajan and Washington Sundar) have played some first-class games coming into this Test. Playing against Australia in Australia was never going to be easy. But they showed a lot of character and they understood what the team expected them to do," Rohit Sharma asserted.

Sharma was particularly happy with the maturity that the Indian bowlers showed to restrict the Aussies after fast bowler Navdeep Saini walked off the field due to groin pain.

"We wanted to make sure that once Saini walked off, we can contain and put pressure on Australian batsmen by not giving them easy runs. Run-scoring can be easy here as it is a good pitch."

Team India ended a rain-shortened Day 2 on 62-2, still trailing by 307 runs. Losing a well-set opener in Rohit Sharma was a huge blow for the visitors. But they will take heart from the fact that two of their experienced batsmen in Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are still at the crease.