Anrich Nortje ruled out of Champions Trophy
South Africa hit by a major blow before the start of the global event as their premier fast bowler Anrich Nortje ruled out of Champions Trophy due to back injury. Nortje was named in the South Africa Team squad for champions trophy few days ago and was making a comeback after an injury.
Nortje has become an integral component of South African in all three formats over the past few years and was preferred over Gerald Coetzee because of his experience in international cricket. 31-year-old fast bowler has taken 36 ODI wickets in 22 games for Proteas but start fast bowler was out of cricket since T20 world cup last year.
With just over a month remaining as CT 2025 event is all set to start from February 19th it is highly unlikely that Nortje would be available to take part in the global event. Gerald Coetzee seems to be the likeliest replacement who has staggering ODI record in his short career.
Coetzee has 31 wickets in 14 games with a bowling average of 23 which is much better than Nortje 27 in one-day international cricket. It was clarified by South African coach Rob Walters that Nortje gets a nod ahead of Coetzee just because of his experience at international level.
Coetzee was out of action from international cricket due to injury and currently making a comeback in SA20 league while representing Joberg Super Kings.