V Singh cricketer: Why is T Natarajan not playing today’s IPL 2021 match vs Mumbai Indians?

T Natarajan not playing: Sunrisers Hyderabad have made as many as four changes to their Playing XI for tonight’s match.

During the ninth match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and chose to bat.

“We are gonna bat first. Very hard to predict, looks a good track but we will only get to know as the game progresses. Looks a bit sluggish though. We have made one change. We understand the conditions and it’s very important to back your skills. Last game was good for us,” Sharma told Star Sports during the toss.

Coming on the back of a 10-run victory against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday, Indians have made a solitary change in their Playing XI by bringing in Adam Milne for Marco Jansen.

Why is T Natarajan not playing vs Mumbai Indians?

Much like Sharma, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner also wanted to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium especially after losing the first two matches while chasing at the same venue.

“We would’ve batted first for sure. All four wickets look exactly the same here. We know what we are gonna do here. We have been in this position before,” Warner told Star Sports during the toss.

Unlike Mumbai, Hyderabad have made as many as four changes for this match. “We have made four changes. Can’t remember the names, gotta look at the team-sheet,” Warner said during the toss not revealing the rationale behind the changes.

#SRH make 4 changes in the team. New tactics or panic?

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 17, 2021

Apart from handing respective debuts to batsman Virat Singh and spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sunrisers have also included all-rounder Abhishek Sharma and pacer Khaleel Ahmed. Wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, all-rounder Jason Holder, spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and pacer T. Natarajan have been made to sit out tonight.

While the others have played in the IPL before, Jharkhand batsman Virat Singh will be playing his first match in the biggest T20 league. In 61 T20s, the 23-year old left-hand batsman has scored 1,802 runs at an average and strike rate of 37.54 and 127.53 respectively which comprises of one century and 11 half-centuries.

UPDATE: Sunrisers Hyderabad Director of Cricket disclosed during an on-field interview that they have benched T. Natarajan to manage his workload tonight.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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