Year after India debut, T Natarajan announces setting up of 'Natarajan Cricket Ground'

A year after making his unexpected India debut during the tour of Australia, left-arm pacer T. Natarajan has announced the setting up of a new cricket ground ‘with all facilities' in his village. The cricketer revealed that the ground will be called the ‘Natarajan Cricket Ground’ (NCG).

Hailing from Chinnappampatti, a village near Salem in Tamil Nadu, Natarajan’s rise to fame from an extremely humble background was one of the heartwarming cricketing tales of 2020.

Ravaged by injuries, India handed an international debut to Natarajan during the third T20I in Canberra. The 30-year-old went on to make his T20I and Test debut during the same tour Down Under.

On Wednesday, Natarajan took to Twitter to reveal that he will be setting up a cricket ground in his village. The cricketer informed:

“Happy to Announce that am setting up a new cricket ground with all the facilities in my village, Will be named as *NATARAJAN CRICKET GROUND (NCG)* #DreamsDoComeTrue. Last year December I Made my debut for India, This year (December) am setting up a cricket ground #ThankGod.”

Plagued by injuries, Natarajan has not played for India since the third T20I against England in Pune in March this year.

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Natarajan was ruled out of Vijay Hazare Trophy due to troubled knee

Natarajan has been battling a troubled knee of late. He was not picked in the Tamil Nadu squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy owing to the same. Earlier, the knee problem forced the left-arm fast bowler to miss the quarterfinal and semifinal of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He played in the final against Karnataka but could not make much of an impact.

According to reports, he was sent to the NCA (National Cricket Academy) in Bengaluru for rehabilitation. Natarajan was also ruled out of IPL 2021 after he played only two matches for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during the season. The pacer subsequently underwent a knee surgery but his woes seem far from over.

Natarajan rose to fame following a stellar IPL 2020 campaign for SRH. He claimed 16 wickets in as many matches and his ability to bowl deadly block-hole deliveries earned him the nickname ‘yorker king’.

The Tamil Nadu cricketer has, so far, featured in one Test, two ODIs and four T20Is and has a total of 13 international scalps to his name.