On the eve of the fourth T20I against India in Rajkot, South Africa pacer Anrich Nortje admitted that he remains a work in progress after coming back from a long injury lay-off.
Notably, Nortje was out of action for almost six months after the T20 World Cup 2021 due to a stress fracture that affected his hip and back.
Playing for the Delhi Capitals, he had bowled exceptionally well in the 2020 and 2021 IPL editions. As a result, he was retained by the Delhi-based franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
However, the Proteas fast bowler failed to make a mark in this year’s IPL, taking 9 wickets from 6 matches at an economy rate of 9.71.
"I am still not there. I am still working on it, still trying to find one or two things. Body wise I am still not 100 percent, slowly building it up. I would probably rate myself from where I was at the end of IPL last year and the start of T20 World Cup. Still trying to get there," Nortje quoted as saying by PTI.
When asked what exactly is missing from his bowling, the speedster replied: "If I knew exactly what it was, I would have done it (laughs). It is going to be a minor adjustment. I generally keep it simple. I am working on something at this stage and we will see how it goes.”
"It is not like it is completely out of shape. It is about small margins for me and I would like to get back to where I was," said the 28-year-old.
Anrich Nortje said the recovery and comeback phase due to injury taught him a valuable lesson.
"It was hard (the comeback phase) because some of the stuff is limited. Some of the bowling is limited. You can't go out and bowl 8 to 9 overs every day. It has been a good challenge and will help in the future if there are any niggles or injuries going forward," he said.
Talking about the pace war, Nortje said he is not competing with Umran Malik or any other fast bowler.
"Malik is a good bowler and a very fast bowler. He has shown that on the field. If he goes faster, good for him, if I go, faster good for me. It is not about bowling fast, it is about winning games," he remarked.
Having won the first two matches, South Africa are leading the five-T20I series 2-1 against India. The fourth T20I is due to be played in Rajkot on Friday (June 17).
(With PTI inputs)
