Former Sunrisers Hyderabad Head coach Tom Moody feels left-arm pacer Natarajan was unlucky not to be named in India’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
The Men’s Main Selection Committee headed by Ajit Agarkar has named two left-hand seamers in the team, one of whom is in the 15-man squad and the other as an extra. T20 specialist Arshdeep Singh, who played in the 2022 T20 World Cup edition, made it to the main squad while DC seamer Khaleel Ahmed is among the four additional players. On that note, Tom Moody has stated that Natarajan will kick himself.
Tom Moody explains Khaleel Ahmed’s selection for the T20 World Cup
While speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s Timeout show, Tom Moody was asked to shed light on the selection of Khaleel Ahmed and the exclusion of Natarajan. The host asked if the selectors thought Khaleel was a better option than the SRH seamer.
“Natarajan should consider himself unlucky” – @TomMoodyCricket#Timeout #T20WorldCup2024 pic.twitter.com/bT9Jhh6TzM
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 1, 2024
In his reply, Tom Moody claimed that both were different bowlers with different qualities. Moody explained that Khaleel Ahmed was “dynamite” with the new ball and that voters may have felt a new ball specialist would be of better use.
The 2016 IPL winning coach then claimed that Khaleel was not a good bowler at the deaths. He has been inconsistent at the back end, so Agarkar and Co. might have thought it would be better to have a new ball as a replacement rather than a death over specialist.
“They are two different bowlers. Khaleel gives them an option with the new ball. He won’t give you an option in the end. I think he’s shown recently that he’s too inconsistent at the end, but with the new ball he’s a real cracker.” “Voters feel they need a new ball replacement option against a specialist death.” – said Tom Moody via ESPNcricinfo.
Tom Moody then shed light on Natarajan’s quality and how he would have helped the Indian team. Moody, who has worked closely with Natarajan, claimed he was the one the chief selectors would have left behind if they were looking for a death-over specialist.
But due to the presence of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep as back-end specialists, Natarajan couldn’t keep up and will therefore be very unlucky.
“And if you go for the death specialist, then Natarajan is a complete no-brainer. He, along with Bumrah, is an absolute standout when it comes to bowling at the back end. Natarajan would consider himself unfortunate if he wasn’t actually considered whether “It’s not in the 15, but certainly not in the breakout squad because he’s on the right track.” – Moody concluded.
How did Khaleel Ahmed and Natarajan perform in IPL 2024?
Since IPL 2024 was the basis for Khaleel Ahmed’s selection in the extras, we need to take a look at his and Natarajan’s numbers in this IPL season. Khaleel has taken 12 wickets from 11 IPL games for Delhi capitals with an economic efficiency of 9.48.
Natarajan has picked up 13 wickets from 2 fewer games, with a fairly similar economy of 9. Both were responsible for their side’s performance, but the selectors felt that Khaleel Ahmed would be the better option. What will this decision be? We will see.