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Proteas pacer Anrich Nortje joined the Delhi Capitals camp this week ahead of their match against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday.
The 30-year-old pacer was not a part of the Delhi Capitals squad in their opening match against Punjab Kings due to the birth of his first child, Amelia last week. Nortje shared his excitement in an interview with Delhi Capitals’ social media team, “It was a very special day, one of the best days for both of us.”
High-intensity preparation and a new life update 💙❤
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 27, 2024
Anrich Nortje opens up on his return for #IPL2024 👇#YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/51R8rfueIC
Nortje made his return to cricket recently playing in three domestic T20 matches after suffering from a stress fracture in September 2023, which sidelined him for the 2023 ODI World Cup which took place in India. He also missed the SA20 for Pretoria Capitals along with the home series against India. After coming back from the injury his target will be to be at his best before the upcoming T20 World Cup in June to secure his place back again in the national side. And the best place to do so would be in the IPL, “It’s good to be here, high intensity, great training sessions with world class players around. It’s good to be involved with the team again” Nortje added.
Featuring only in nine matches out of thirty-seven for the Proteas in 2023, mainly due to his injury, Nortje is one of the big names alongside Quinton De-Kock and Wanye Parnell to miss out on the Cricket South Africa’s contract for 2024 which came out on Tuesday. Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s director said Nortje’s main focus is on T20 cricket for now to manage the workload post-injury but he is not taking retirement from the other two formats. “He requested he wants to focus on T20 cricket for the next few months. He is not retiring from any internationals. He will avail himself for T20 internationals. Towards the end of the year, he will look to play ODIs again,” he said to ESPNCricinfo. Nortje has the best bowling economy in T20 Internationals than any of his other compatriots. He is also the second-highest wicket taker for the South African side in Tests and ODI’s after Kagiso Rabada since his debut in 2019.
Capitals lost their opening match by 4 wickets against Punjab Kings, with Nortje’s arrival back in the side they will feel confident for their next encounter against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, who are also in great form winning their first match of the campaign.
