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SRH name J&K pacer Umran Malik as T Natarajan's short-term replacement for remainder of IPL 2021
Malik has played one T20 and List A match for Jammu Kashmir and has picked a total of four wickets. He is already part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad as a net bowler.
Jammu and Kashmir medium pacer Umran Malik was on Friday named as a ‘short-term’ replacement for left-arm seamer T Natarajan in the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad for the remainder of IPL 2021. Natarajan tested positive for Covid-19 on the eve of SRH's match against the Delhi Capitals and has been isolated from the rest of the squad.
“Sunrisers Hyderabad have brought in medium pacer Umran Malik as a short-term Covid-19 replacement for T Natarajan for their VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign. Natarajan had tested positive for Covid-19 before the team’s fixture against Delhi Capitals on September 22nd,” IPL said in a release.
Malik has played one T20 and List A match for Jammu Kashmir and has picked a total of four wickets. He is already part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad as a net bowler.
“Umran Malik, a fast bowler from Jammu & Kashmir, who was with the #Risers as a net bowler, has been added to the squad as a short-term Covid replacement for T Natarajan,” SRH wrote on Twitter confirming the developments.
“Under the Regulation 6.1 (c), franchises are allowed to sign a short-term replacement player until the original squad member is permitted to re-enter the team's bio-secure environment. Hence, Malik will only be a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad side until Natarajan recovers and is allowed to join the team,” the release further added.
Six other members of the SRH squad, identified as close contacts of Natarajan, whose return to cricket after a long injury lay-off has been pushed back further, have also been isolated keeping the Covid protocols in mind.
The six members are all-rounder Vijay Shankar, team manager Vijay Kumar, physiotherapist Shyam Sundar J, team doctor Anjana Vannan, logistics manager Tushar Khedkar and net bowler Periyasamy Ganesan.
SRH are currently languishing at the bottom half of the IPL 2021 points table with just one victory in eight matches. They need to win their remaining six matches and then depend on net run rate equations to stand any chance of making it to the playoffs.
