IPL 2021: Shreyas Iyer and T Natarajan allowed to feature in the remainder of the season

The second leg of the IPL is all set to resume from September 19 in the UAE. Ahead of the series, the franchise had to put their thinking hats on for the replacements and inclusions of players. However, the BCCI has now allowed them to bring back players that they had lost owing to injuries and were replaced in the Indian leg of the tournament. Following this, Shreyas Iyer and T Natarajan will now be available for their respective franchises.

IPL’s chief operating officer Hemang Amin explained that the players who were roped in as replacements but were unlikely to be retained for the second leg would become a part of the IPL’s registered pool of players. He also added that in case the original player was released by the franchise then he wouldn’t make it to the registered pool.

He had earlier informed the IPL franchises to submit the list of replacement players and had stated the deadline of August 20 for the same. “If in case any player who was injured or unavailable during the India leg of IPL 2021 and is now fit or available then the franchise which had taken a replacement player for such previous unavailability, will need to elect any one of them,” asserted Amin as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

Who will lead DC?

Shreyas Iyer who has been the skipper of the Delhi Capitals side had to miss out on the initial part of the tournament due to a shoulder injury that he picked up during the white-ball series against England at home. In his absence, Rishabh Pant took the mantle of captaincy and the side had a good run in the first leg of the tournament. The team has not yet announced who would take the leadership duties for the remainder of the IPL.

Natarajan’s inclusion would be a big positive for the Sunrisers Hyderabad side. The team is currently at the bottom and has had a dismaying outing in the tournament so far. The bowler had to opt out of the IPL owing to a sore knee and underwent surgery.

Many players had pulled out of the tournament citing the reasons of workloads and bubble fatigue. The 31 matches of the second phase of the IPL will be played in the UAE, with Mumbai Indians locking horns against their arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings on September 19.