South African and Delhi Capitals (DC) speedster Anrich Nortje is aiming to replicate his last year's Indian Premier League (IPL) performance in the upcoming second half of the IPL 2021 to help DC continue their strong run this season too in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Playing in his maiden IPL, Nortje turned out to be the real surprise package as the tall pacer picked up 22 wickets in 16 matches to help the Delhi Capitals (DC) reach the final of the IPL 2020 in the UAE.
With the IPL 2021 set to resume in the UAE from Sunday (September 19), Nortje hopes he and his franchise can repeat what they did last season to win their maiden IPL trophy this season.
The 27-year-old believes that the second half of the IPL 2021 will be completely different from the first half of the tournament in India and he will be looking to take it to match by match in the UAE.
Nortje said in a DC official release: “It was here where things started to happen for me in the IPL, but I am looking to take it to match by match this season. There's a lot coming up, even after the IPL. We have to try and remember what we did here the last time we were here and try and implement that again. Hopefully, we can repeat what we did in the UAE the last time we were here.”
The fast bowler added, “What worked at one place is not going to work at another place so we have to take it game by game. The upcoming games in the UAE are going to be completely different from the games we had earlier in the season. Maybe teams will field different strategies in the second half of the tournament. We have to be switched on now and just be ready.”
He also feels playing in the IPL 14 before the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE will be certainly a big advantage for all the players who are set to play in the prestigious event in October-November.
Nortje said, “It's definitely a massive advantage to play the IPL before the T20 World Cup. We have a chance to acclimatize to the conditions and get the first-hand experience of the kind of wickets here in the UAE. The sooner we get the information about the kind of wickets here, the better it will be for all of us.”
He signed off by saying, “I think each team is looking to assess everything as much as possible, but, firstly we have to assess the conditions for the IPL as it certainly is a big tournament in itself and then we will get to the T20 World Cup.”
(With PTI Inputs)
