Dinesh Karthik feels Washington Sundar and T Natarajan's success will motivate more TN cricketers

Dinesh Karthik will captain the Tamil Nadu cricket team in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The cricketers from Tamil Nadu have done an excellent job on the cricket field of late. Washington Sundar was quite impressive for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2020. In the same way, T Natarajan did a commendable job for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

The Indian cricket team was set to tour Australia after the IPL Final. BCCI included both Sundar and Natarajan in the contingent for the Australian tour. Sundar had earned a place in the T20I squad, whereas Natarajan was going to be a net bowler for the practice sessions. 

Unfortunately, Varun Chakravarthy could not travel with the team because of an injury. This injury forced the selectors to name a replacement for him. Left-arm fast bowler T Natarajan got the break as he got a spot in the Indian T20I squad for the first time. 

Before the first ODI match of the series against Australia, Navdeep Saini complained of back issues. Thus, the team management included T Natarajan as a cover. Ultimately, Natarajan made his debut in the 3rd ODI, while Hardik Pandya gave him the Man of the Series award in the T20I series for scalping six wickets in three matches against the mighty Aussies. 

After the first two Tests, the Indian cricket team lost Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav to injuries in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Once again, Natarajan got a place in the squad. Talking about the two Tamil Nadu cricketers’ success of late, Dinesh Karthik wrote on Twitter:

"It has been great to see players like Natarajan & Washington Sundar do so well for India. Would want TN players to get inspired by them and keep making progress to play for the nation and the IPL."

 

The 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will begin from January 10.