Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) mentor VVS Laxman has revealed the reason behind the team management Khaleel Ahmed ahead of their left-arm pacer T Natarajan in the match against Mumbai Indians. In the post-match press conference after SRH’s 13-run loss vs MI, VVS Laxman said that Natarajan was unfit to play against the defending champions.

Talking about Natarajan, Laxman said, “Yeah, unfortunately, Natarajan missed out because of a sore knee and a niggle in his left knee, he was ruled out of this match. So, he was unfit for this match and that’s why we went with Khaleel Ahmed. We are going to assess the condition of Natarajan and I’m sure that the medical staff of Sunrisers will take the right decision which will be beneficial for him and the franchise.”

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SRH team director on Saturday had said that Natarajan was rested and not dropped. The absence of Natarajan in the SRH line-up had left a lot of fans and pundits in confusion. 

During a chat on Stars SPorts, Tom Moody had said, “Not dropped, rested – managing his workload, we know it’s a long tournament and he’s had quite a lot of cricket already under his belt.”

Further, VVS Laxman praised Natarajan’s replacement, Khaleel Ahmed, for his good show in his first IPL 2021 match. Khaleel spent 24 runs and took 1 wicket in his 4 overs.

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Talking about Khaleel’s bowling performance, VVS Laxman said, “I was very impressed with the way Khaleel Ahmed bowled in his first game of the season. I think he assessed the conditions really well and used a lot of his variation along with extracting a lot of pace and bounce off the surface. So, a lot of positives for SRH in the Khaleel Ahmed bowled.”