TNPL – The Hindu

T. Natarajan’s slower bouncer helped him record his best figures of this TNPL. The iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans left-arm pacer returned two for 24 in four overs against Vida Kovai Kings in Dindigul, dismissing R.S. Ambrish and Shahrukh Khan with the delivery in the death overs.

That delivery is a result of the work he has been putting in with former India and Karnataka left-arm pacer Sreenath Aravind.

“I’ve been working with him for the last three years. I worked with him even before going to the IPL this year. In modern cricket, batters easily start hitting whatever you bowl at the death. It’s very difficult for us to survive with just one type of ball.

“So, I felt that having a slower bouncer would be useful. I have worked on it for two years, and it is better now,” Natarajan said.

Their work together is rooted in the small details of fast bowling: creating angles for right-hand and left-hand batters, correcting technical errors, and spotting things a bowler cannot always see in himself.

“Even if I’m coming back from an injury, there may be some small technical mistake that I don’t notice, but he does. That can make a big difference.

“I had a shoulder injury (collarbone fracture) last year, so I worked with him during that time. I’ll tell him what I feel is wrong, and he’ll make a lot of small corrections. He even came to my ground (in Chinnappampatti, Salem) last year and worked with me for around four days. It is very convenient and easy for me to work with him since there is good communication between us,” Natarajan said.