'DK kabse celebrity ban gya' - Fans react to Dinesh Karthik inaugurating the Natarajan Cricket Ground in Salem

Indian team wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik was the chief guest for the opening of the Natarajan Cricket Ground in Salem, Tamil Nadu

author-image
Rohit Kumar
New Update
Dinesh Karthik and T Natrajan

Dinesh Karthik and T Natrajan (Source: Twitter)

As part of the Indian men's national cricket team, the left-arm fast bowler, T Natarajan has participated in one Test, two One-Day Internationals, and four T20 Internationals. T Natarajan represents Tamil Nadu in domestic matches for both Ba11sy Trichy in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) as well as the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

On June 23, Natarajan announced the opening of the newly constructed Natarajan Cricket Ground in the Tamil Nadu village of Chinnappampatti via his Instagram account. The ground is located in the Salem region of Tamil Nadu. An over enthusiastic Natarajan wrote on Instagram while announcing this piece of information. He wrote, “Extremely delighted to announce the opening of my dream-come-true project-Natarajan Cricket Ground. - 23rd June, 2023 - Chinnamppampatti, Salem District."

Dinesh Karthik, a seasoned Indian wicketkeeper and batter, was invited as the ceremony's chief guest.  The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) planned to send numerous administrators to the event. The notable guests included TNCA President Dr. Ashok Sigamani, Secretary R.I. Palani, and Former Secretary R.S. Ramaswamy.

At the inaugural event, Indian actor Yogi Babu as well as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan were also present. Natarajan and his guru Jayaprakash had aspirations of opening an independent cricket academy within their hometown. Some well-known alumni of Natarajan's academy are G Periyaswamy, V Gowtham, and G Aravindh since they have either represented Tamil Nadu at domestic cricket level or represented themselves in the TNPL.

In Salem, T Natarajan began playing tennis ball cricket before joining the state squad of Tamil Nadu in 2015. In IPL 2020, he had his breakthrough performance, picking up 16 wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad while maintaining an economy rate of 8.02.  The Indian selection committee took notice of his knack for nailing his yorkers in important situations and scoring significant runs.

Natarajan was selected as India's net pacer for the 2020–21 Australia tour, however due to injuries to other members of that team, he ultimately made his professional debut across all three formats.In the T20I series, the left-arm fast bowler picked up six wickets at a 6.92 economy rate. The series' Player of the Series, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, dedicated his POTM award to the rookie. Natarajan hasn't played for India after that Australian tour due to a string of injuries.

Fans react to Dinesh Karthik inaugurating the Natarajan Cricket Ground in Salem : - 

 

 

TNPL WTC Indian Premier League featured Dinesh Karthik