Natarajan's dream Australia tour is adding more happy moments to him. After an impressive performance in Indian T20 League 2020, he was added to the squad as the net-bowler, and later, he earned the ODI and T20I cap against Australia. His performance was outstanding in T20 matches and he got the reward as Natarajan replaced injured Umesh Yadav for the final Test matches in Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named T Natarajan as Yadav’s replacement. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Shardul Thakur was added to the Test squad as Mohd. Shami's replacement after the senior fast bowler suffered a hairline fracture in his right forearm. Both Shami and Umesh Yadav will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further rehabilitation of their injuries,” stated BCCI in a media release.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the new vice-captain of the Indian cricket team for the two Tests. Rohit Sharma has passed the fitness Test and joined the squad ahead of the Sydney Test. Hitman completed 14-day quarantine in Melbourne after arriving in Australia on December 16.
Indian Test squad for final two Tests:
Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan
