Cape Town, Jan 15 (IANS) South Africa pacer Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the remainder of the SA20 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 due to a back injury. Nortje, who plays for Pretoria Capitals, got injured recently and underwent scans and the extent of the injury was revealed this week.
Nortje’s injury is a major blow to South Africa’s hopes for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 as Nortje is not in line to recover ahead of the 50-over tournament, which the Proteas will begin on February 21 against Afghanistan in Karachi, Pakistan.
The 31-year-old Nortje, who was initially named to the Champions Trophy squad, underwent scans on Monday afternoon which revealed the extent of the injury. With there being not much chance of him recovering in time for the Champions Trophy, Cricket South Africa finally took the call on Wednesday to withdraw him from the event.
His replacement will be announced in due course, the CSA informed in a statement on Wednesday.
Nortje also missed South Africa’s previous participation in an ICC event – the Cricket World Cup in 2023 in India – due to a stress fracture in his back. The 31-year-old’s steady variation, bounce, and pace have been pivotal in South Africa’s pace unit in the white-ball format, proven by his 36 wickets in 22 ODIs and 53 wickets in 42 T20Is. The right-arm speedster’s last outing in the ODI format came over 15 months ago, in the Proteas’ second ODI against Australia in Bloemfontein.
South Africa have retained their core group of players that made it to the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023, with 10 of their 15 participating members named for the Champions Trophy as well.
–IANS
bsk/