Why are T Natarajan and Washington Sundar not playing today's DC vs SRH match?

Sunrisers Hyderabad have been forced to field a depleted lineup, without T Natarajan and Washington Sundar, against Delhi Capitals for Thursday's IPL 2022 clash at the Brabourne Stadium. They have also dropped Marco Jansen, making it three changes to follow the 13-run loss against Chennai Super Kings last week.

Sundar was struck on his bowling arm while fielding in the powerplay and couldn't bowl. He had split the webbing of the same hand earlier in the tournament and missed three matches before making a comeback against the Super Kings.

Unfortunately for the spinner, these two injuries are among the many injuries he has suffered in the past two years. Every time Sundar has played a couple of games and performed well, he has had to miss out for an extended period due to one reason or another, including positive COVID tests.

Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal has made his debut in Sundar's absence.

Natarajan, Sunrisers' best bowler by far this season, also suffered an unspecified injury during the match. The left-arm pacer picked up two wickets in the game but was atypically expensive, conceding 42 runs in four overs. He has been replaced by 21-year-old fast-bowling talent Kartik Tyagi.

Meanwhile, Jansen's omission seems purely tactical. The South African singlehandedly won his side the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, Jansen leaked runs in the next two matches at a combined economy rate of 8.645. His wicket column remaining empty didn't help his case either.

Australian pacer Sean Abbott has replaced him in the side. Apart from bringing extensive Big Bash League experience, Abbott will also add some depth to the batting lineup.

@seanabbott77 gets rid of the dangerous Mitchell Marsh. 💪🏾🧡

#DCvSRH #OrangeArmy #ReadyToRise #TATAIPL https://t.co/3CyBTo0Dzc

The Orange Army had built some momentum in the tournament and these injuries could derail their campaign at a crucial stage of the season.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad's playing XI without T Natarajan and Washington Sundar

Tonight is the night when three new talents don our Orange for the first time. 🔥🧡

@ShreyasGopal19 @tyagiktk @seanabbott77

#DCvSRH #OrangeArmy #ReadyToRise #TATAIPL https://t.co/cZqlKW6iUg

Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sean Abbott, Kartik Tyagi, Umran Malik