Dream debut for Chennai seam bowlers

Thangarasu Natarajan and Washington Sundar make it into the longest version of the game, pick up wickets on debut

It has been a rough run for the son of the daily wager, but with his determination and commitments, he has proved that nothing is impossible.

The Chennai seamer, Thangarasu Natarajan who was a net bowler for the Indian Test team received his Test cap, 300th for India, as he made inroads in the longest format for India on the opening day of the 4th and final Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane, on Friday.

It has been a good trip Down Under for the left-arm fast bowler from Chennai, as he made a triple, in one trip, T20, ODI and now the Test. He becomes the first Indian player to make debuts in all three formats, T20I, ODI and Test on the same tour. He is the 17th player overall to do so. He becomes the second India player to do so after Bhuvneshwwar Kumar in the same season.

Joining Natarajan was his teammate Washington Sundar, incidentally, both were not in the Test squad as they were retained as net bowlers after the limited-overs series. However, due to the array of injuries India has had to face in the Test series, the two Tamil Nadu cricketers have made their debuts after a dramatic turn of events. It has been a blessing in disguise for Natarajan in many ways. He made ODI debut in the series finale after coming in as a back-up for Navdeep Saini who had a back niggle. Natarajan was initially added to the T20I squad as a replacement for mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy who got his maiden India call-up before being ruled out.

Notably, both Natarajan and Sundar were not in the Test squad as they were retained as net bowlers after the limited-overs series.

"The stuff dreams are made of. A perfect treble for @Natarajan_91 as he is presented with #TeamIndia's Test Billed cap No. 300. It can't get any better! Natu is now an all-format player. #AUSvIND," the BCCI tweeted. While Washington was also on the social media, which read, "Let's hear it for @Sundarwashi5, who gets his #TeamIndia Billed cap from @ashwinravi99. He stayed back after the white-ball format to assist the team and is now the proud holder of cap number 301," the tweet read.