IPL 2019: 3 South African pacers to watch out for
The 12th edition of India's top T20 league, IPL 2019, is less than 3 weeks away. The first match will be played between the defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 23rd at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
The IPL is a big platform for Indian and overseas players to exhibit their talent. That said, there haven't been a lot of players from South Africa making an impact except AB de Villiers, who has continuously delivered with the bat all the seasons, and Morne Morkel, who won the Purple Cap in 2012 with 25 wickets from 16 matches.
South Africa have one of the best pace bowling attacks in the world. But not often have we seen a South African bowler dominating the IPL.
This year, two South African bowlers are making their IPL debut - Hardus Viljoen and Anrich Nortje. The big names who went unsold in the auction this year are Dale Steyn and More Morkel.
On that note, let's take a look at 3 South African pacers to watch out for in this edition of IPL.
#3 Anrich Nortje (Kolkata Knight Riders)
The 25-year-old Anrich Nortje is a right arm pace bowler. He came into the IPL auction with a base price of INR 20 lakh and Kolkata Knight Riders bought him at that price.
In the Mzansi Super League (MSL), Nortje took 8 wickets from 3 matches at an average of 10.4 including the wickets of Aiden Markram, Farhaan Behardien, Hashim Amla and Temba Bavuma. But he was ruled out from the rest of the tournament due to an ankle injury.
Nortje has picked up 162 wickets from 47 first-class matches at an average of 25.72. He has also tkane 19 wickets from 12 T20s.
He made his ODI debut in 2019 March against Sri Lanka. Even though he could bag only one wicket, he caught everyone’s eye with his pace and variation.
Nortje is known for attacking the stumps at 150 kph. It will be interesting to see how he performs in Indian conditions.