There was a sense of familiarity when T. Natarajan walked into the press conference room at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai ahead of the IPL 2026 encounter between the Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). 

The DC pacer had a wide smile on his face when he walked into a room full of journalists who had been witnesses to his rise from the grounds of Chinnapampatti in Salem to the Gabba in Brisbane. The smile turned into a chuckle when one of them prompted, “Tamil or Hindi?”

The 35-year-old seemed to be in high spirits after a tough year and a half, during which he grappled with injury, playing just a solitary T20 game, which came in the IPL for the Capitals. “Last year, my collarbone was broken. Not many people know it. I was not 100% fit,” Natarajan said.

“I think a lot about injury. It’s always there in the back of my mind. Even when there is soreness, the injury comes back to mind. The last year has been a struggle. I’ve had to motivate myself to come back from all these,” he added. 

The left-arm pacer was painfully frank about the mental toll these injuries had on him, but said the challenge of coming back from injury was in no way comparable to the stress he endured in his first year as a First-Class cricketer. 

Natarajan made his Tamil Nadu debut in a Ranji Trophy encounter against Bengal in Kolkata, after which he was called out for a suspect action by match officials. He remained out of contention for more than a year before a splendid showing in the maiden season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League brought him back into the TN setup and gave him his first IPL contract with the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). 

“I’ve had some three to four surgeries so far. Physically and mentally, I’ve overcome a lot of challenges. The biggest challenge for me was coming back from being called for suspect action. Injuries are a part of the game, and it’s not in my hands, but this is different. I was mentally weak at the time, and coming back from that gave me the confidence that I can overcome any challenge, including injuries,” the pacer said. 

Natarajan credited the Capitals management for backing him doubtlessly during the previous IPL season. The franchise even took him to the UAE during the ILT20, where he trained along with the sister team, the Dubai Capitals. 

“The support staff and team management in DC have been in constant touch with me, monitoring my progress. [Hemang] Badani sir (DC head coach), often chats with me and we even met during the TNPL. I attended a lot of camps in Delhi, Surat and Hyderabad and also spent three weeks in Dubai. I even played in the DY Patil tournament in Mumbai as preparation, which helped me get back in rhythm,” he explained.