/betbarter/media/agency_attachments/3YXcMKaocLoKtpo5Mw2o.png)
/betbarter/media/post_banners/pdBlcnif9sknzZA8VHUl.jpg)
T-natarajan
Former Australian leg spinner Brad Hogg is nothing but praises for Indian left-arm bowler T Natarajan. Hogg believes that India has finally found a left-arm option in the SRH bowler. T Natarajan was outstanding in the T20I series against Australia. In 3 matches, T Natarajan picked up 6 wickets in total. Natarajan was instrumental in India’s 2-1 triumph against Australia. T Natarajan had quite the T20I debut, picking up 2 wickets against the mighty Aussies. He proved difficult for Australian batsmen to bat against, especially in the death overs. Owing to his superb bowling in the T20I series, Natarajan received the Man of the Series award from Hardik Pandya as a wonderful gesture.
Natarajan has earned quite a reputation for bowling inch-perfect full-length yorkers. The bowler bowled a record 71 yorkers in IPL 2020. With the T20I World Cup set to start in less than a year, Hogg believes that Natarajan could be a key player for the Indian side. Hogg reckons that Natarajan’s availability will bring more variety to India’s bowling attack.
No 4 and 5 positions are vital for the Indian side: Brad Hogg
Even though India won the T20I series, there are still some aspects of the team that could be worked upon. The middle-order did not look very convincing. Players such as Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, and Manish Pandey failed to capitalize upon the opportunity to regularly start for the team. Hogg believes that prior to Rohit’s return, KL Rahul could fill in the void left in the middle order.
This issue was exploited by the likes of Adam Zampa and Mitchell Swepson. The spin duo bothered India throughout the T20I series. Swepson was the Man of the Match in the 3rd T20I against India. In just 4 overs, Swepson dismissed 3 Indian batsmen and conceded just 23 runs. Swepson easily outplayed India, which is evident with inconsistent performances from the middle order batsmen.
Hogg believes that India needs batsmen who can play spin. Since the Indian side has plenty of right-handed batting options, someone who is left-handed could bring a positive change. Ravindra Jadeja could be someone who might get a chance to play higher in the batting order. Jadeja was a key player behind India’s T20I triumph against Australia. With the limited-overs series done and dusted, India will now look forward to some red-ball cricket action. The Border-Gavaskar trophy is set to start on 17 December.