New Delhi: His eyes transfixed on the TV screen, left-arm seamer Thangarasu Natarajan was finding it surreal when the bids against his name zoomed up at a break-neck pace during the IPL auction, in Bangalore on Monday.
The little known 25-year-old's life changed in a matter of few minutes as Rs 10 lakh base price saw a 30-time jump reaching Rs 3 crore, with Virender Sehwag vigorously raising the paddle for Kings XI Punjab.
Perhaps he remembered the days of hardships when his mother ran a street side stall and father worked as a daily wage-earner at a garment factory. All of 20 years, Natarajan, one of five children, was playing tennis ball cricket matches in his native Salem and hoping to make it big.
He eventually moved to Chennai where he played for the popular Jolly Rovers, a club which has big names like Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay.
His big breakthrough came last year when he enjoyed a successful stint for Dindigul Dragons in the inaugural Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), attracting the attention of the IPL scouts. "It seems unreal. I never thought I would play in the TNPL, let alone the IPL. Very thankful that it has happened," Natarajan's elation was palpable on Monday.
Natarajan recalls how TNPL gave him the much needed exposure.
"There was a lot of pressure when I was picked to play in TNPL. But I am thankful to people like Ashwin, Murali Vijay and L Balaji (TN bowling coach) who instilled the belief in me that I was good enough at the Ranji Trophy level. It was my dream to play in the Ranji Trophy which has been fulfilled. Now I look forward to meeting people in the IPL and learning from them," he said.
In another fairy tale that unfolded in Bangalore on Monday, pacer Mohammed Siraj landed a Rs 2.6 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad, thanks to a brilliant first-class season that saw him get India A and Rest of India call-ups.
For Siraj, the first thing on his mind is to buy a house for his parents - Mohammed Ghaus and Shabana Begum - in a good locality in Hyderabad.
"Today, I remember my first income playing cricket. It was a club match and my maternal uncle was the captain of the team. I got nine wickets for 20 odd runs in that 25 over game. My uncle was so happy he gave me Rs 500 as a prize. It was a great feeling. But today when the bid was raised to Rs 2.6 crore, I just went numb," Siraj said, speaking over the telephone from Hyderabad .
Coming from a lower middle-class family, he is indebted to his parents for the sacrifices they made to help him develop as a professional cricketer.
"Mere walid saab ne bahot mehnat ki hain (My father has slogged a lot). He drove an auto-rickshaw all these years but never let the financial constraints of the family affect me or my elder brother. Bowling spikes cost a lot and he would always get the best for me. I want to buy a house for them now in a good locality," Siraj said. (PTI)
