South Africa cricket team has suffered a major blow ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023. Their star pacer Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the tournament with a lower back injury. The tournament will kick start from the 5th October in India and Proteas will open their account on the 7th against Sri Lanka.
Anrich Nortje’s absence will be a major blow for South Africa as he has been the mainstay of their bowling lineup since the last few years. Since the last few months, he has been dealing with a back injury, which ruled him out of the five-match ODI series against Australia.
It was expected that Anrich Nortje would be declared fit for the ICC World Cup 2023. But he has been deemed unfit to play in the tournament. Apart from him Sisanda Madala has also faced injury and has been ruled out of the tournament. In their place, CSA has named Andile Phehulkwayo and Lizaad Williams in the team as replacements.
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This will be for the second consecutive time that Anrich Nortje will miss the ODI World Cup. He missed the 2019 World Cup as well. He faced a thumb injury ahead of the tournament and in his place Chris Morris replaced him.
Anrich Nortje has been a great asset for South Africa in the ODIs. He has played 22 matches and has picked 36 wickets at an average of 27.27. His absence surely will leave a massive void in the team for the ICC World Cup 2023 as his pace on Indian conditions would be handy.
ICC World Cup 2023: South Africa’s squad for the ICC World Cup 2023
Here is South Africa’s squad for the ICC World Cup 2023
Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton De Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Henrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Andile Phehulkwayo and Lizaad Williams