Chennai, April 10 sidelined by a collarbone injury, T Natarajan has endured a challenging period physically and mentally, but the left-arm pacer is now relishing his resurgence, attributing it to improved fitness and rigorous practice with the tennis ball and the hard red ball.
The 35-year-old, who featured in just two matches in the previous IPL season, has looked in good rhythm this time, spearheading the bowling in the death overs for Delhi Capitals.
"Last year, I had a collarbone injury, and it was a difficult period for me. The team management, support staff, and coaches kept motivating me throughout and guided me on the kind of training I needed to do," Natarajan told reporters ahead of their match against Chennai Super Kings.
"I attended multiple camps in Delhi, Surat, Hyderabad, and Dubai, and all of that helped me regain rhythm and confidence. The support from everyone around me made my comeback easier."
Natarajan, who snapped three wickets against Lucknow Super Giants in their first match of IPL 2026, was retained by DC for Rs 10.75 crore.
"Coming back after an injury is never easy, both mentally and physically. Every time I was doing well, unfortunately, an injury came in the way," he continued.
"For the last six to seven months, I have worked extremely hard on my fitness and bowling. I have practiced a lot to get back my yorkers and regain my rhythm. My confidence is high now, and I'm very happy with how things are going."
Natarajan, a former Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer, said he practiced with tennis balls to improve his execution.
"I have played cricket with tennis balls since childhood, and that has helped me a lot. To improve my execution, I practiced with tennis balls, weighted balls, and red balls," he said.
"I also discussed with Bhuvneshwar Kumar earlier, and he suggested practicing with the red ball slowly to improve length control. That has helped me a lot in improving my bowling."
On evolving as a bowler over the years, he said: "Cricket has changed a lot, and batters are much smarter now. They prepare very well and plan against bowlers.
"So, for me, clarity of plans is the most important thing. I need to know what I want to execute in every situation. Even if I get hit, if my plans are clear, I can back myself to deliver."