Courtesy: Google
Clouds of uncertainty loom over the next appearance of South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje. After suffering from a “stress reaction” in his back, he will be out of action for an unknown period of time. This information of being ruled out indefinitely due to back back injury is corroborated by the fact that Nortje was not considered to be a part of South Africa’s T20I squad that will contest in a tri-series in Zimbabwe next month, wherein the third team is New Zealand.
According to the reports in the media, Proteas’ coach Shukri Conrad said that Nortje’s injury will be assessed and as things stand, Cricket South Africa (CSA) is unaware of how long he will be out of action for. Conrad said, “We will have to see the length of the time that he will be out and the extent of the injury. I really feel for him.”
Shukri Conrad further added that in Anrich’s case this is the second or third stress reaction in his back. "It is too early to make a diagnosis and we are definitely not drawing a line through his name,” the South African coach said. He further added that Nortje is a superstar fast bowler and having to deal with setback after setback can’t be easy.
Anrich Nortje: A career marred by injuries
The injury by the recent “stress reaction” is the latest in the long list of setbacks for Nortje, who also did not travel to MLC 2025, where he was due to play for Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR). Currently he is no longer contracted with CSA and last played international cricket for the Proteas at the T20 World Cup in 2024, where his team was the runner up. In the final game against India, Nortje picked up two wickets dismissing Rishabh Pant and Shivam Dube at critical junctures of the game.
He was then not considered for red ball format for focusing primarily on T20s by opting out of the central contract. But a fractured toe ruled him out of the home T20Is against Pakistan before a back injury sidelined him from the 2025 Champions Trophy.
In the IPL too, this year in the 18th edition Nortje played only two games this year for Kolkata Knight Riders. In the IPL 2020 and 2021 season he made a critical impact with his pace clocking more than 155kph deliveries in many games, one such occasion was in IPL 2020 when his 155kph rocket moved and off the seam and took out Jos Buttler’s middle stump. With 22 wickets in IPL 2021, he was the fourth highest wicket taker that year, which was his best performance.
His IPL journey is also affected a lot because of frequent injuries. In 2019 he was bought by KKR at a base price of INR 20 lakh but a shoulder injury ruled him out of that season. Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction also, he was retained by Delhi Capitals. But an injury restricted him to just six games in that season where he picked up nine wickets.
