T Natarajan Released from TN Squad on BCCI’s Request

Natarajan played one Test, one ODI and three T20Is in the recently-concluded tour of Australia.

T Natarajan made his Test debut in Brisbane against Australia. 

Image: T Natarajan/Twitter

Left arm pacer T Natarajan has been released by the Tamil Nadu squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy as the Indian team management want him in the best possible shape for the white-ball games against England.

India play five T20Is and three ODIs against England from March 12, in Ahmedabad and Pune respectively.

"That is what we have heard. We have not got a request in writing but we understand that the team management wants him to get ready by practising at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. The secretary is looking into it. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) will take the right decision," Kasi Viswanathan of TNCA was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

TNCA secretary S Ramasamy also told Cricbuzz, "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the team management want him fresh. It is in the national interest and so we are ready to oblige," the TNCA official said. "We had named a replacement should he be not available and that issue has been sorted out. We have released Natarajan."

The Indian team are trying to avoid two quarantine periods for Natarajan, with the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Team India bubble. The TNCA is understood to have asked the pacer to head to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Natarajan played one Test, one ODI and three Twenty20 Internationals in the recently-concluded tour of Australia.

Meanwhile, Cricbuzz also reported that KL Rahul, who has been drafted into the Test squad, will be eligible for selection only from the third Test. He has been made part of the contingent so that he could be in the bio-bubble but he is expected to be fit only from mid-February.

The likes of Hanuma Vihari, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami, all of whom picked up injuries in Australia, are unlikely to be available for the England Tests, the report stated.