Anrich Nortje’s participation in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is doubtful as the speedster hasn’t bowled much since November last year amid injury issues. According to report in Insidesport.in, Nortje is struggling to recover from his injuries and may have to skip the entire season. According to the publication he is yet to fully recover from his hip surgery. Cricket South Africa’s medical officer Dr. Shuaib Manjra who also is working on Nortje’s condition.“He has been seen by three different orthopedic surgeons. He is struggling with loading and doing most of the other rehab work. He is not ready for action. I guess it’s frustrating. He keeps fit, he works extremely hard. All goes fine, except for when he picks up his bowling loads. He has got discomfort. We have identified three different problems between back and hip and we don’t know which is primary,” Munjra said.
Earlier this week, Cricket South Africa announced their ODI team for Bangladesh. During the announcement as well CSA’s selection convenor, Victor Mpitsang had announced that it will be difficult for Nortje to make it to IPL. “It’s probably going to be difficult [for Nortje to go to the IPL]. He has not really been bowling much since November. We don’t have any timeframe on his return. It’s been a long one. The medical team will give advice on whether he will be cleared for the IPL,” Mpitsang was quoted as saying in ESPNCricinfo. Nortje was one of the best bowlers for Delhi Capitals since the past two seasons. Before the mega auction, DC had retained four players, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, and Anrich Nortje. Nortje was retained for 6 crores in the upcoming season. The fastest bowler from South Africa has 34 wickets in 24 IPL matches for DC at an economy of 7.65.
