T Natarajan
Following India's historic victory in Australia, Anand Mahindra on Saturday announced that every debutant of the Test series will be gifted an SUV. The Mahindra Group chairman, in a tweet, said that he'll be gifting the cars out of his own account to Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur.
The Indian team, plagued with injuries, handed debuts to five players in a rare instance. Shardul, who played his second Test at The Gabba, was also included in Mahindra's list as the pacer's debut had lasted just 1.4 overs against the West Indies in 2018.
“Six young men made their debuts in the recent historic series #INDvAUS (Shardul’s 1 earlier appearance was short-lived due to injury) They’ve made it possible for future generations of youth in India to dream & Explore the Impossible. Theirs are true ‘Rise’ stories; overcoming daunting odds in the pursuit of excellence. They serve as an inspiration in all arenas of life.
“It gives me great personal pleasure to gift each of these debutants an All New THAR SUV on my own account—at no expense to the company. The reason for this gift is to exhort young people to believe in themselves & ‘Take the road less travelled.’
Bravo Mohammed, Shardul, Shubhman, Natarajan, Navdeep & Washington! I now plead with @Mahindra_Auto to get them their THARS on priority,” his series of tweets read.
The Indian team scripted history by breaching The Gabba fortress and registering back-to-back Test series wins in Australia. Gill notched up a brilliant 91 before Pant slammed an unbeaten 89 to steer the visitors across the finishing line.
Siraj ended the 2020/21 Border Gavaskar Trophy as India's highest wicket-taker, with 13 scalps in three Tests. Siraj also became the first Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Brisbane since Zaheer Khan, who had achieved the feat in 2003.
Sundar also had a memorable outing in Australia. Along with Shardul, he added a 121-run stand for the seventh wicket - the highest seventh-wicket stand by India in a Test match in Brisbane. Sundar ended up scoring 62 which included 7 fours and a six. He also became only the third Indian to score a half-century on Test debut in Australia
