The South African team seems to have suffered a huge blow ahead of the much-awaited Test series against India as home as the fiery pacer, Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the three Tests. Nortje, who has been one of the crucial cogs for the Proteas in recent times especially in the longest format of the game.
Apart from South Africa, Anrich Nortje has been doing well for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the last couple of seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the last couple of years, has formed a potent pace trio with Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi in Test cricket, and with Duanne Olivier returning, it made for a fearsome bowling line-up.
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Cricket South Africa (CSA) informed on Twitter that the 28-year old has been struggling with a persistent injury after the T20 World Cup and will not feature in the series starting with the Boxing Day Test, but they have not announced a replacement.
Tweeting about the same, CSA wrote: ” Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the 3-match #BetwayTestSeries due to a persistent injury 🚑 No replacement will be brought in #SAvIND #FreedomSeries #BePartOfIt”.
#Proteas Squad update 🚨
Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the 3-match #BetwayTestSeries due to a persistent injury 🚑
No replacement will be brought in#SAvIND #FreedomSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/5R8gnwdcpF
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 21, 2021
In a press release regarding the same, CSA wrote: “The Proteas have commenced their final preparation ahead of the first match starting on Boxing Day. It is the Test team’s first series since their successful tour to the West Indies in July of this year, where they won the series two-nil.”
The first Test between India and South Africa is scheduled to be commencing on December 26 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. India too will be without a couple of star names in vice-captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who are both out of the Test series due to injuries.
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Both players are currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Rohit is expected to return and lead the team in the following three-match ODI series in South Africa but Jadeja will take a lot of time to attain complete fitness.
