Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer T Natarajan who had a sore knee has been ruled out of the 2021 edition of IPL and will undergo rehab in National Cricket Academy.
Sources from the Board of Control for Cricket in India have disclosed that the pacer will have to report back to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. At what stage the knee injury became serious is not clear, but Natarajan didn’t play against Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings. Natarajan, who spent two months at the NCA after the Australia tour, played his last IPL game against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 11.
The NCA physios have been monitoring Natarajan’s fitness and have reported to the board about the aggravation. The board is likely to ask the franchise to release the pacer, who is still understood to be with SRH in Chennai.
“We have not got the full report, but we have been told that he has developed a strain in the knee. He will have to undergo rehab in the NCA,”
the source stated.
The Sunrisers’ Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, was quoted saying Natarajan’s workload is being managed after he was left out against Mumbai Indians and was replaced by another left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed.
“Not dropped, rested – Managing his workload, we know it’s a long tournament, and he’s had quite a lot of cricket already under his belt,”
Tom Moody explained to the commentators on-air at Star Sports.
The Sunrisers defeated Punjab Kings on Wednesday by nine wickets after SRH bowlers did an outstanding job of restricting the opposition to a low score.
“He has obviously got a sore knee. Given the circumstance in these bubbles, if he goes and gets a scan, he obviously has to sit out for seven days. He has to get back in quarantine. We are just monitoring him at the moment.
The physios are doing their best to analyse from a face point of view, but he obviously has to go out and get a scan at some point,”
David Warner stated on Wednesday.
T Natarajan rose to stardom after producing an impressive season for SRH in IPL 2020 where he won everyone over by his sheer accuracy of nailing the yorkers. The Tamil Nadu pacer picked 16 wickets at an economy rate of 8.02 in IPL 2020, and on the back of those performances, Natarajan received a national call-up.
In his first International T20 assignment, Natarajan picked 6 wickets in 3 matches at an impressive economy of 6.92 against Australia. He then went on to play for India in all three formats in a span of two months during India’s tour of Australia.
This blow has hampered Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL campaign, and they are now left with very few reliable pace options. The franchise has not yet decided on the replacement player ahead of the game against Delhi Capitals in Chennai on April 25.
