Following an impressive performance in his maiden IPL season in 2020, South African speedster Anrich Nortje is geared up for the second half of IPL 2021 and stated that playing in similar conditions ahead of the T20 World Cup will surely be a massive advantage for players being a part of the cash-rich league.
Norje was one of the premier fast bowlers for Delhi Capitals in 2020 scalping out 22 wickets at an average of 23.27 and an economy rate of 8.39. He proved to be the perfect foil for Kagiso Rabada and along with his Proteas teammate, the quick helped his side qualify for the finals of the tournament for the very first time.
Capitals decided to go with Chris Woakes in the first half of the tournament and the English all-rounder did a commendable job providing his franchise with crucial breakthroughs in the powerplay. However, with Woakes set to miss the second half of the IPL, Nortje is expected to get a look in.
"It's definitely a massive advantage to play the IPL before the T20 World Cup. We have a chance to acclimatize to the conditions and get first-hand experience of the kind of wickets here in the UAE. The sooner we get the information about the kind of wickets here, the better it will be for all of us,” Nortje was quotes as saying by the Hindustan Times.
Nortje did admit to the fact that the Capitals need to assess the conditions in UAE first before they start the tournament. Capitals had a good start to the first half of the tournament and are currently at the top of the points table with 6 wins from 8 games.
“I think each team is looking to assess everything as much as possible, but, firstly we have to assess the conditions for the IPL as it certainly is a big tournament in itself and then we will get to the T20 World Cup," added Nortje.
"It was here where things started to happen for me in the IPL, but I am looking to take it match by match this season. There's a lot coming up, even after the IPL. We have to try and remember what we did here the last time we were here and try and implement that again. Hopefully, we can repeat what we did in the UAE the last time we were here," the fast bowler concluded.