Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri's comment that the team missed left-arm pacer T Natarajan in the last T20 World Cup is hard to fathom. In reality India's exit in the Super 12 stage had nothing to do with the performance of the bowlers, but solely due to the insipid show by the batters in the crucial games against Pakistan and New Zealand.
"Very happy for him. We missed him in the World Cup. He would've been a certainty had he been fit," Shastri said in ESPNCricinfo's 'T20 Time:Out' after Natarajan picked up 2/26 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing IPL 2022.
"He got injured against England when we were playing the ODI series and we really missed him (in the World Cup).
"He's that specialist death bowler, bowls those yorkers very skilfully. He's got great control. He is skiddy. A bit quicker than you think and hits the bat," Shastri said.
India failed to qualify for the semifinals in Shastri's final assignment as Team India head coach.
India made 151/7 against Pakistan in their opening Super 12 match, while they could manage only 110/7 against the Kiwis in their next game. The team went down by 10 wickets and eight wickets respectively. More importantly the games got over in the 18th and 15th over respectively.
Shastri was the head coach when Natarajan made his debut for India across the three formats in their memorable 2020-21 tour of Australia.
Shastri added that the Tamil Nadu player was a lucky charm for them.
"Every game I've picked him we've won. In his debut in T20, India won. In his debut in Test cricket, India won. From a net bowler, he played those other two formats," Shastri said.
Maybe Shastri has a point there!
