IPL 2021: T Natarajan bids emotional adieu to his SRH family
Left-arm pacer T Natarajan, who will miss the rest of IPL 2021 due to a knee injury, bid an emotional adieu to his Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) family. The 30-year-old seemed dejected at the prospect of missing the tournament, especially at a time when he was doing well with the ball.
T Natarajan played the first two games of the season for SRH against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He picked up two wickets in those two games although he was slightly expensive.
The Salem-born speedster revealed that his expectations for this season were relatively high and added that he would have to undergo knee surgery soon.
"Hi, this is Natarajan. I'm sad to miss the remaining games in this year's IPL. Since I played well last year and went on to play for India, my expectations were high. Unfortunately, I will have to undergo knee surgery and will miss this season," said SRH pacer T Natarajan.
He also thanked the SRH members for having his back and wished the team the best of luck for the rest of the season.
"Thank you to the SRH family - support staff and players. They supported and motivated me a lot. I'm going to miss the SRH family this season. I have no words to say right now. I wish Sunrisers to go out and win every game this season. Best wishes," he said.
Focus on NCA as T Natarajan gets injured once again
T Natarajan was doubtful for the T20I series against England last month because of knee and shoulder injuries. He underwent rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru before joining the Indian team again.
But the latest reports suggest that the pacer never fully recovered and was rushed to make a comeback.
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"T Natarajan never fully recovered from his knee injury," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity on Thursday.
"He went for rehabilitation at the NCA but it is now evident that even when he was declared fit to make a return against England, he was not 100 per cent match ready. Now he could be out for a longer period as he had rushed his comeback without doing proper rehab," the source added.
T Natarajan played a crucial role in helping SRH reach the playoffs last year with 16 wickets in 16 games at an economy rate of just over 8.