"Coming Back Not Easy": Delhi Capitals Pacer Reveals How He Recovered From Big Injury
Sidelined by a collarbone injury, T Natarajan endured a challenging phase physically and mentally, but the left-arm pacer is now relishing his resurgence.
Sidelined by a collarbone injury, T Natarajan endured a challenging phase 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 phase 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 gain rhythm and confidence again. 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 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 practised 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 practised with tennis balls to improve his execution.
"I have played tennis-ball cricket since childhood and that has helped me a lot. To improve my execution, I practised with tennis balls, weighted balls and red balls," he said.
"I also discussed with Bhuvneshwar Kumar earlier, and he suggested practising 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 back myself to deliver."
Delhi Capitals
Chennai Super Kings