IND v AUS 2020: 'As T Natarajan keeps playing, his problems will also keep increasing' - Virender Sehwag
Former Indian captain Virender Sehwag has opined that T Natarajan will face plenty of challenges as his career progresses unless he learns quickly on the job.
He made this observation while talking about the future prospects of India's new bowling sensation during a discussion on the Sony Sports network.
Virender Sehwag started by pointing out that it is just the start of T Natarajan's career and that he will be confronted with a lot of challenges moving ahead. However, he expressed hope that the Tamil Nadu pacer will be a quick learner and will cause more nightmares to the opposition.
"As Natarajan keeps on playing, his problems will also keep increasing. But if he keeps learning, he will continue to trouble the other teams more and more."
The former Indian opener reasoned that the opposition batsmen will slowly get accustomed to T Natarajan's methods and will devise strategies to counter him.
"The problems will also increase because people will start understanding him, what he does, when he bowls which delivery, what are his strengths. So, they will make a gameplan according to that."
Virender Sehwag wants T Natarajan to gain from Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra's experience
Virender Sehwag wishes that T Natarajan gets a chance to hone his skills under the guidance of Zaheer Khan or Ashish Nehra, who are a couple of Indian left-arm pacers who made a mark in the international arena.
"Since he is a left-armer, I feel if Zaheer Khan or Ashish Nehra spend time with him, if they go to the Indian camp and spend time with the fast bowlers then there will be a lot to gain for the Indian bowlers."
The swashbuckling opener signed off by observing that T Natarajan will have a lot to gain from the duo's experience of bowling in tough situations and against quality opposition.
"Because the sort of experience they have, the tough situations in which they have bowled, they can explain and teach a lot. If that happens, it will be good for T Natarajan."
T Natarajan has been a breath of fresh air in the Indian limited-overs lineup, especially in the T20 format of the game. The Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer was India's star performer in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia.
The 29-year-old scalped six wickets in the series, and at an economy rate of just 6.91 when almost all the other bowlers were being taken to the cleaners. He would hope to continue in the same vein and become an integral member of the Indian T20 team before the World Cup next year.