T Natarajan

Born on April 04, 1991, in the small village of Chinnappampatti near Salem district in Tamil Nadu, Thangarasu Natarajan is a left-arm medium-fast pacer who has had the perfect tale from poverty to prosperity as he burst onto the national set-up with his versatility as a bowler.

Hailed as the ‘Yorker King’ in the Indian Premier League, Natarajan earned his reputation by bowling toe-crushing yorkers, coupled with accuracy, controlled line and lengths, and cutters. His rise to the top is nothing short of inspiration for the youngsters and he has proven that it's better to start late than never.

T Natarajan: Along the Years

T Natarajan Records

• Second-most wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad (16) in IPL 2020 after Rashid Khan 

• First Indian to make his international debut across all three formats in the same series (vs AUS, 2020)

• Second-most wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad (18) in IPL 2022 after Umran Malik 

• Most wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 (19)

T Natarajan Career

T Natarajan has been a reliable bowler who has mastered the art of death bowling. He has risen to the occasion despite being sidelined due to injuries on numerous occasions and would be aiming to fly high in the coming years.

T Natarajan Domestic Career

Like every Indian kid, T Natarajan took up tennis-ball cricket as a hobby. However, one day a well-wisher from his district named A Jayaprakash, a Salem division cricketer, identified his skill as a bowler and asked Natarajan to try his hand at local competitive cricket. Motivated by the words, Natarajan relocated to Chennai and joined a cricket club in the city.

He first came into the limelight when he represented the team of BSNL in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s fourth-division league. Natarajan then played 1st division cricket for Vijay Cricket Club for almost a year. Later, he moved to Jolly Rovers, a popular club that has fielded big names like Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay.

Natarajan made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy on the 5th of January, 2015. In a match that was ultimately drawn, he made a great debut by taking 3 wickets in the first innings itself. With a low average and economy, and the guaranteed chance of taking wickets, Natarajan has become a favorite of the selectors of the Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy side.

Natarajan’s first breakthrough came in 2016 when he represented Dindigul Dragons in the inaugural edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL).

He currently represents the IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans in TNPL 2024. 

The Salem pacer made his T20 debut for Tamil Nadu against Karnataka on January 29, 2017, and was quite impressive on debut, returning with figures of 2/26.  He made his List-A debut for Tamil Nadu against Gujarat on September 20, 2018, but went wicketless in his maiden outing.

Natarajan won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21 with Tamil Nadu by defeating Karnataka in the final. 

T Natarajan IPL Career

A true rags-to-riches story, T Natarajan joined the million-dollar club when Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) picked him up for INR 3 crores for IPL 2017 after his sterling performances in the domestic season and in the first season of TNPL as well. He played in 6 games in his debut IPL season and picked up 2 wickets.

After a mediocre season with the Kings XI, Natarajan was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2018 auction for INR 40 lakhs. 

Though he did not get to play across the two editions, Natarajan ensured that he grabbed all the eyeballs on a global scale when he had a breakthrough season in IPL 2020. He was the talk of the town when he grasped the art of bamboozling the batters with unplayable yorkers and put it into full effect largely in the death overs as well. He picked up 16 wickets in 16 games in the United Arab Emirates and led the bowling attack with his left-arm skillset, forging a stringent partnership alongside veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Rashid Khan. In the eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru), he cluttered the stumps of South African AB de Villiers, which not only left the veteran batter in awe but also left the cricketing world amazed.

In IPL 2021, he could only play a couple of games as he was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after an injury. In the IPL 2022 mega auction, the Sunrisers battled with Delhi Capitals and newly-inducted Gujarat Titans to acquire his services, and he was sold to the Orange Army for INR 4 crores. He had yet another impressive season with the ball by picking up 18 wickets at an average of 22.56. 

After having a mediocre season in IPL 2023 where the Sunrisers finished at the bottom of the table, the 33-year-old pacer came back to his wicket-taking form in IPL 2024. He registered his career-best figures of 4/19, including an astounding feat of a triple-wicket maiden in the nineteenth over against the Delhi Capitals, which got overlooked, thanks to Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma’s hammering.

He finished the season as Sunrisers’ leading wicket-taker with 19 wickets in 14 games as SRH finished as runners-up against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

T Natarajan International Career

Cricket enthusiasts around the world and T Natarajan’s fellow countrymen were all excited to see him in the Indian colors, as his journey was nothing short of inspirational, after his much-talked IPL exploits and he was raring to go.

Natarajan was the first Indian to debut across all three formats in the same tour. He was not the first-choice player in any of these squads and was selected on the back of injuries to the main players. He has had a brief international career so far and has been off the radar with injuries and heavy competition being obstacles to donning the India jersey once again.

T Natarajan ODI Career

With a series victory being out of contention, T Natarajan made his ODI debut in the 3rd ODI against Australia at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, which was supposedly the first match of the Indian cricket team after the outbreak of Coronavirus. He earned the 232nd ODI cap of India from skipper Virat Kohli and was the first pacer from Tamil Nadu to debut after Lakshmipathy Balaji in 2002. 

Though Natarajan was a tad bit expensive in his very first ODI, he picked up the wickets of opener Marnus Labuschagne and all-rounder Ashton Agar as India earned a consolation victory by defeating Australia by 13 runs.

He was selected for England’s tour of India in 2021 and played in the series decider with the scores 1-1. He picked a solitary wicket of Ben Stokes and was asked to defend 14 runs in the final over against an in-form Sam Curran. With experience in death overs as a skill, Natarajan held his nerve as India won the match by 7 runs.

T Natarajan Test Career

T Natarajan was selected for India’s tour of Australia in 2020 as a net bowler. After fast bowler Umesh Yadav was sidelined due to an injury, Natarajan was inducted into the squad as his replacement.

With players either being injured or unavailable due to COVID-19, Natarajan made his Test debut in the final Test of the series in Gabba, Brisbane. He had an impressive maiden innings with the ball as he picked up two crucial wickets in the form of Matthew Wade and Marnus Labushagne, as well as the final wicket of Josh Hazlewood. With India registering a historic victory down under, Natarajan can hold his head high as he was part of that victorious squad that was written off by every other critic, which remains the only Test that he has played in his career so far.

T Natarajan T20I Career

Soon after making his ODI debut, T Natarajan made his T20I debut against Australia in the same series after he was drafted to replace his injured Tamil Nadu counterpart, Varun Chakravarthy. With his IPL returns on the back of his mind, one would wish to recreate the same magic in Indian colors and the left-arm pacer did not disappoint. 

He registered impressive figures of 3/30 in his maiden outing, scalping Glenn Maxwell, D’Arcy Short, and Mitchell Starc as India won the series opener by 11 runs. He continued his IPL form as he finished the three-match T20I series with 6 wickets and a good economy as well.

After clinching the T20I series, Hardik Pandya dedicated his 'Player Of The Match' award that he won. in the 2nd T20I as well as the 'Player Of The Series' award to Natarajan as a heartfelt gesture, that made fans applaud the all-rounder.

Natarajan had undergone rehab at the National Cricket Academy as he missed the first four matches of England’s tour of India in 2021. He played in the final game of the series and has never had an opportunity to play for India. 

With Natarajan finishing the IPL 2024 season on a high as the Sunrisers’ leading wicket-taker, he was in talks for a potential return to the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, but unfortunately, he did not make the cut.

T Natarajan Family

T Natarajan’s family wasn't financially well-off back in the day. While his father S Thangarasu worked as a weaver at a power loom, his mother Shantha ran a roadside snack stall to make ends meet. As the eldest of five siblings, including three sisters and a brother, Natarajan was always worried about taking care of his family. But cricket has been a savior for the Natarajan family.

He married his long-time girlfriend Pavithra Natarajan on June 04, 2018, and was blessed with a daughter named Hanvika in 2020. With Natarajan becoming popular for his varied skillset, he has quite single-handedly globalized the village of Chinappampatti.

T Natarajan Net Worth

As of 2024, T Natarajan has an estimated net worth of INR 14 crores or USD 1.7 million.

T Natarajan Cars

T Natarajan was gifted a Mahindra Thar by Anand Mahindra himself on the back of the historic series victory in Gabba in Australia in 2021.