Natarajan, Sundar well prepared for 1st Test: Laxman congratulates debutant
Jan 15, 2021
New Delhi [India], January 15 : Former India batsman VVS Laxman congratulated the Tamil Nadu duo of T Natarajan and Washington Sundar on making their Test debut in the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba on Friday.
Laxman, who is also the mentor of SunRisers Hyderabad for which Natarajan plays, hailed their inclusion in the playing XI and said both of them are well prepared to grab the opportunity.
"You never know when and how opportunity knocks on your door but when it appears you should be ready. I am sure both @Natarajan_91 and @Sundarwashi5 are well prepared for their 1st test match. Congrats and Good luck. #AUSvIND," Laxman tweeted.
Natarajan became the 300th cricketer to play a Test match for India and he also became the first Indian cricketer to make his debut in all three formats on the same tour.
The left-handed pacer was added to the Indian T20 squad as a replacement for spinner Varun Chakravarthy and made his shortest format debut in December last year. He went on to represent India in ODIs and now in the red-ball format.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to Twitter to share videos of both players receiving their caps.
Bowling coach Bharat Arun presented the Test cap to Natarajan while Ravichandran Ashwin gave the cap to Sundar, who became the 301st Indian cricketer to play Test cricket.
SRH Director of Cricket Tom Moody also congratulated the debutant pacer.
"Congratulations @Natarajan_91 the fairytale continues, test cap #300 #debut #AUSvIND," Moody tweeted.
Earlier, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. India made four changes in their playing XI with injuries to Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Jasprit Bumrah and Ashwin.
Apart from Natarajan and Sundar, Shardul Thakur and Mayank Agarwal were included in the final XI for the fourth Test at the Gabba.
For Australia, Marcus Harris replaced Will Pucovski, who had injured his shoulder while fielding on Day 5 of the third Test.
