IPL 2021: Sunrisers Hyderabad rope in Kashmiri cricketer Umran Malik as a short-term replacement for T Natarajan
Pacer T Natarajan was tested COVID-19 positive.
Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer T Natarajan tested positive for coronavirus pandemic ahead of the team’s fixture against Delhi Capitals. SRH locked horns with DC on September 23, Thursday. Delhi Capitals won the fixture by 7 wickets and became the table-toppers.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad roped in Umran Malik as a short-term replacement for T Natarajan. The Kashmiri cricketer is already a net bowler for SRH. The medium-pacer will be getting a wonderful opportunity to express himself in the IPL.
Umran Malik doesn’t have experience in the shortest format. He has played only one T20 and List A match for Jammu and Kashmir. The medium-pacer took 4 wickets to his name, meaning that he indeed has all the tools and ingredients to become one of the top bowlers.
Are IPL teams allowed to sign a short-term replacement player?
Under Regulation 6.1 (c), all the IPL teams are permitted to rope in a short-term replacement player until the original squad member is allowed to re-enter the team’s bio-secure environment. As a result, Malik will only be a part of the SRH side until T Natarajan’s recovery and is permitted to join the team.
T Natarajan has played two games for SRH this season. The left-arm paceman from Tamil Nadu picked up two wickets to his name. He was one of the standout performers for SRH in the IPL 2020 season. Natarajan impressed the selectors by bowling superbly.
He kept the opposition batsmen in check by bowling many dot balls in the IPL. Natarajan picked up 16 wickets in 16 games in the last season. In fact, his incredible performance helped him earn an opportunity to play for India across formats against Australia in Australia.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad haven’t shown any positive signs so far. They played 8 games so far and managed to win just one game. Sunrisers lost 7 games in their journey, which is their worst-ever performance in IPL history.
However, SRH fans believe that there is still a glimmer of hope that their team might make a comeback. The 2016 IPL champions will lock horns with Punjab Kings at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on September 25, Saturday.
