The Director of Cricket Operations of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tom Moody has lamented the injury to T Natarajan, who has been ruled out of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League as a big loss. He said that the left-armer had burst onto the scenes well last year and rose to shine for the Indian international side as well.
Moody praised Natarajan for bringing ‘specific skills’ such as yorkers and slower ones to defeat batsmen in the end overs of games.
“Obviously, Natarajan is a big loss to us as a whole. His IPL career really took off last year and also he did well when represented India last year. He is an asset to any side, particularly he brings specific skills to the team. He is really good with his closing skills with yorkers and slower balls.
However, Moody said that the injury to Natarajan has opened the door for someone like Khaleel Ahmed who has risen to the occasion of bowling in tough circumstances. He was brilliant with the ball in the last game against the Punjab Kings and picked up three wickets.
“Khaleel continues to impress, picking up three wickets and bowled exceptionally well, also bowling in challenging times. He has been asked to bowl in tough conditions and he has done exceptionally well,” Moody said.
The Sunrisers tasted their first success in the tournament in their fourth game and Moody said that the win was crucial for the men in orange in order to lift the morale and spread positivity among the player groups.
“The game against the PBKS was obviously a very very important for us to firstly get our first win also just to get out game plan sorted with regards to how we playing in Chennai. It has been a challenging venue for us and for every team that has played there. Very unique conditions and it seems like it is only getting worse. It was nice to put up a good performance with the bat and ball to secure the all-important first now,” Moody said.
Now, the Sunrisers are eager to get on the Delhi Capitals in their upcoming contest at the same venue in Chennai where pitches have been challenging as suggested by Moody.