Anrich Nortje made his debut for South Africa on March 3 2019 against Sri Lanka. He has slowly established himself as a potent bowling option and alongside Kagiso Rabada, forms a strong combination for South Africa. He was recently seen in an interview with The Grade Cricketer podcast.
On it, the express pace bowler recalled the time he was asked by CSK to bowl in their nets. The 2010 edition of Champions League T20 was held in South Africa and this enabled Nortje to take part in their practice sessions. Nortje, who was 16 at the time, distinctly remembered his thought process while bowling to MS Dhoni.
I did think he didn’t know how to bat – Anrich Nortje
The South African, who now plays for Delhi Capitals in the IPL, mentioned he was surprised while watching Dhoni’s technique. His style of standing still and hitting without using feet movement made Nortje believe Dhoni didn’t know how to bat.
“I wasn’t that big, so wasn’t scaring anyone. It was age group that I was playing those days, so I wasn’t that quick,” said Nortje on The Grade Cricketer podcast.
“I remember bowling to MS in the nets there. He didn’t look like he could bat to be honest. I didn’t realize it was him. He hit a couple of balls almost standing still and not using any feet as he does. But afterwards he was such a nice man to see everyone and realize who they were,” he said.
“I am not going to lie. I did think he didn’t know how to bat. It was a nice buildup seeing everyone around in the nets. They were just [trying] to block, get their eyes in,” the 27-year-old concluded.
Anrich Nortje was last seen plying his trade for Delhi Capitals’ in IPL 2021. He was pivotal in their 2020 season, where he helped them reach the final, scalping 22 wickets with a best of 3/33. He is currently in West Indies, as part of South Africa’s squad due to play a white-ball series.
