India vs Australia fourth Test: Natarajan becomes 300th Indian cricketer, Sundar is 301

Debutant Washington Sundar. (Source: Twitter)

It is said that opportunity emerges out of adversity and that’s what happened in the case of Thangarasu Natarajan and Washington Sundar. A spate of injuries to the Indian bowling attack on the Australian tour has meant that the bowling attack featured in the fourth Test at the Gabba in Brisbane is only nine Tests old.

Natarajan, who made his T20 and ODI debut on this Australian tour as well, replaced injured spearhead Jasprit Bumrah while Sundar stepped in for Ravichandran Ashwin. There was another replacement in the form of Shardul Thakur, who was playing in his only second Test and first since debut in 2018, who replaced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

It was a proud moment for Natarajan, who was handed his Test cap by bowling coach Bharat Arun, as he now became India’s latest all-format player.

The stuff dreams are made of. A perfect treble for @Natarajan_91 as he is presented with #TeamIndia's Test No. 300. It can't get any better! Natu is now an all-format player. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/cLYVBMGfFM — BCCI (@BCCI) January 14, 2021

Natarajan also becomes the first Indian player to make debuts in all 3 formats -- T20I, ODI and Test on the same tour. He is the 17th player overall to do so. He becomes the second India player to do so after Bhuvneshwwar Kumar in the same season.

The 21-year-old Washington stayed back with the Indian team as a net bowler in Australia following the limited over series. Apart from a great record in T20 format, Washington has a fair record in first-class cricket with 532 runs and 30 wickets in 12 matches. His highest score of 159 came at the top of the order for Tamil Nadu.

Sundar was handed his Test cap by TN teammate Ravichandran Ashwin.

Let's hear it for @Sundarwashi5, who gets his #TeamIndia from @ashwinravi99. He stayed back after the white-ball format to assist the team and is now the proud holder of cap number 301. pic.twitter.com/DY1AwPV0HP — BCCI (@BCCI) January 14, 2021

It remains to be seen if the two debutants can script history at the Gabba for the Indian team.