The ghosts of days gone by shrouded around the SRH team and the whole of IPL fraternity in general when T. Natarajan returned a positive report for the COVID-19, just before the match against Delhi Capitals. However, since all other players tested negative the match went ahead as plan.
Squad Update: Umran Malik, a fast bowler from Jammu & Kashmir, who was with the #Risers as a net bowler, has been added to the squad as a short-term COVID replacement for T Natarajan. #OrangeArmy #OrangeOrNothing #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/0erUIJLPgg
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) September 24, 2021
Now with Natarajan being the backbone of the SRH bowling lineup, the team required another pacer to fill his boots. Therefore, the management of SRH has decided to call up Umran Malik, one of their net bowlers to join the team temporarily. Yes, this is very much possible. Under regulation 6.1 (c), a franchise is allowed to sign a short-term replacement for a player until the original squad member is permitted to re-join the squad bubble.
Umran is a pace bowler who represents Jammu Kashmir in the domestic circuit. So far, he has played just one T-20 and List A match in total for his domestic team and has picked up a total of four wickets. Currently, SRH is languishing at the bottom of the table with two points from a solitary win. In their last match, they received a thrashing against Delhi Capital which further subdued their hopes for making it to the playoff. They will next faceoff against Punjab Kings on Sunday.
