After losing the ODI series, India received a shot in the arm ahead of the Test series when they staged a strong comeback to register a T20 series win against Australia. India clinched the series 2-1 after winning the first two matches and even though they lost the third T20I in Sydney, the fact that they registered a second bilateral T20 series win in Australia bodes well for the team.
Fast bowler T Natarajan and Hardik Pandya emerged the two biggest positives for India from the limited-overs leg. While Pandya excelled with the bat, scoring 210 runs in the three ODIs, including a career-best 92 and followed it with a Player of the Series worthy performance in the T20Is, Natarajan was a revelation for India, claiming six wickets from three T20Is.
Impressed with their performance, head coach of the Indian cricket team Ravi Shastri praised Pandya for his game awareness, while adding that the all-rounder stands out as one of the cleanest strikers of the ball he’s seen.
“Winning the T20s without Rohit and Bumrah was a huge achievement. What’s essentially working beautifully for this team is players standing up to these responsibilities. In that, Hardik has been a natural. His game awareness is second to none. He’s one of the cleanest strikers of the ball I’ve seen in the game,” Shastri told Times of India.
As for Natarajan, Shastri had nothing but promising words to say for the 29-year-old. Drafted into India’s T20 squad on the back of a wonderful IPL 2020, Natarajan was added as cover for the injured Navdeep Saini in the ODI line-up, and picked up 2/70 in his maiden game for the country. He followed it with impactful figures of 2/30, 2/20 and 1/33 in the three T20Is.
{{/usCountry}}As for Natarajan, Shastri had nothing but promising words to say for the 29-year-old. Drafted into India’s T20 squad on the back of a wonderful IPL 2020, Natarajan was added as cover for the injured Navdeep Saini in the ODI line-up, and picked up 2/70 in his maiden game for the country. He followed it with impactful figures of 2/30, 2/20 and 1/33 in the three T20Is.
{{/usCountry}}“He (Natarajan) was picked only as a net bowler. He got the opportunity and turned into a golden one. The credit goes to the team management and support staff for believing in him, working with him and instilling that confidence. He’s got a long journey ahead of him,” Shastri added.