T Natarajan lost the chance on a spot in the playing XI of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their 3rd IPL 2021 game against the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI).
There is no clarification over whether the left-arm pacer is disturbed. But fellow left-armer Khaleel Ahmed replacing the 30-year-old has surely left quite a minimal heads scratching at the moment.
T Natarajan was possibly the find of the IPL 2020 season as his 16 wickets in a lot of games were essential in helping SRH make it to the playoffs. He also played the first two matches of the ongoing season and picked up a few wickets. This makes T Natarajan’s absence from the playing XI of the 3rd match even more complicated for many.
David Warner looked short of thinking at the toss when he was asked what he would have done had the flip of the coin fallen in his side. SRH have been asked to bowl first by MI and Warner has made a minimum of four changes to his line-up.
Also read:- Watch: DJ Bravo enjoy a wicket with the ‘Vaathi Coming’ dancing
Twitter react to SRH excluding T Natarajan and making wholesale changes
Fans assume that SRH has been rattled by their shock loss to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the early game and that only might be the cause for wholesale changes in their line-up.
They took to Twitter to express their views on the doubtful decision of leaving out one of the strike Indian bowlers in the form of T Natarajan.
Here is the reaction of fans what they had to say:
4 changes. Mujeeb plays. Virat Singh…a talented southpaw from Jharkhand makes his IPL debut. Open with Pandey ji? Abhishek plays too. Khaleel for Natarajan….that’s the one that intrigues me the most. #MIvSRH #SRH
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/adityakumar480/status/1383415231917875221?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1383415231917875221%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportskeeda.com%2Fcricket%2Fnews-ipl-2021-srh-officially-lost-brain-fans-confused-david-warner-drops-t-natarajan-mi
If Natrajan is not injured and he is match still he is dropped for Khaleel means we can officially say SRH lost brain .
— Sai (@akakrcb6) April 17, 2021
SRH going all out in this game, 4 changes! 😳😳😳#MIvsSRH
— Omkar Mankame (@Oam_16) April 17, 2021
So SRH have played 17 players so far in #IPL2021.
And Kane Williamson is not one of them. #SRH #MIvsSRH #SRHvsMI #MI #KaneWilliamson @SunRisers— Naman Agarwal (@CoverDrivenFor4) April 17, 2021
Also read:- Watch: DJ Bravo enjoy a wicket with the ‘Vaathi Coming’ dancing
SRH have pressed the panic button already after losing 2 games.
Surprised they ditched the Saha experiment already.#IPL2021 #MIvsSRH
— Narbavi (@Narbavi) April 17, 2021
Only a niggle could bench T Natarajan. If not then this decision is very shocking. #IPL2021 #MIvSRH
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) April 17, 2021
Natarajan out and Khaleel in ? u guys gone mad !! ..#SRH
— Bharat Jodo 🇮🇳✋⚡ (@KovidRaj5) April 17, 2021
No Natarajan!! No Sandeep!! No Williamson!!
Pandey Statpadder
Both openers out of form🔥
Easy win for MI🔥💙#IPL2021 #MumbaiIndians
— ʜᴀʀꜱʜ𝟒𝟓™🇮🇳 (@HarshRo45_) April 17, 2021
Dropping Natarajan to pick Khaleel, never thought I will see this#MIvsSRH #MI#SRH
— Suyash Shukla (@suyashshukla_) April 17, 2021
SRH had to suffer a horrible batting collapse in the previous game, losing 7 wickets for 27 runs as they fell short of RCB’s target by 6 runs. Warner had said in the post-match performance that such losses were definitely impossible and he has shown intent in his other changes too, apart from T Natarajan’s absence.
Also read:- Watch: DJ Bravo enjoy a wicket with the ‘Vaathi Coming’ dancing