Nortje buzzing with LSG deal and renewed rhythm by his side

Anrich Nortje was just about finishing his pre-match media press conference ahead of South Africa's fourth T20I against India in Lucknow when he received word that the city is also his new IPL home.

Nortje was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL mini-auction for his base price of 2 crore (US$220,000 approx) and moves from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where he played two games last season. "This is news to me," Nortje said, on being told he would be seeing a lot more of the Ekana Stadium. "I'll see you guys soon then. I'm very happy."

The new IPL deal comes on the back of a challenging year for Nortje, who has only played 13 matches in 2025 and had not played international cricket for 17 months before this series. He played no cricket from October 2024 to May 2025 after suffering a back injury and missed both the SA20 and the Champions Trophy. He then appeared in two IPL 2025 matches before another stress reaction ruled out him of action for almost six months with a recurrent stress reaction. It was only last month, when he made his domestic comeback for the Dolphins, that Nortje was able to get consistent game time. He has since earned an international recall albeit without a wicket yet.

Nortje's four overs in the opening match of the T20I series in Cuttack cost 41 runs as he struggled to find rhythm but maintained speeds close to 150kph. He was rested in new Chandigarh and had a much better return of 0 for 14 in three overs in Dharamsala where the only boundary he conceded was an edge off Shubman Gill. Again, Nortje reached top speeds and appeared more comfortable with his disciplines as he found his way back at highest level.

"It's nice to be back, I really missed it and really enjoying my time here," Nortje said. "I'm sort of happy with the progress. There's still a lot of cricket to play. For me, it's just to try and focus game by game, day by day, and just try and get better every day but I've really been enjoying the time back and it's been great to be with the team."

This is Nortje's first South Africa assignment under all-format coach Shukri Conrad, who was originally considering Nortje for a Test comeback last summer when Gerald Coetzee was injured against Sri Lanka. Nortje, who is no longer nationally contracted by his own choice, was then also sidelined with a niggle. Now that he has the opportunity to work with Conrad, much like another player who has returned - Quinton de Kock - he finds the environment welcoming and fun with a focus on playing with freedom.

"With a new coach and how he's been going about things, it seems to be going really well," Nortje said. "I'm happy to be here. The team's been doing unbelievably well the last year or two. There's some fresh faces, there's some old faces and guys have been sort of on the fringes for a while, are getting to play more cricket more consistently. Coming in and seeing how basic they keep things, trying to be as basic as possible, let the moment play out, assess on the park what to do. Guys are jamming really well, getting along very well, and everyone knows their role in the team. And I think that's very important."

Under Conrad, South Africa have worked on creating depth around the national squad and adopted a horses-for-courses selection approach which has widened the pool of players that appear for the national side. That's why Nortje came into consideration when express quick Coetzee was injured. It's also why Nortje won't play every match in the ongoing series as South Africa look for their best T20I bowling combination.

"There's a lot of competition as well, which creates opportunity and also creates a little bit of pressure for guys in the team, which is good. It's what you want," Nortje said. "That's something that's built up over the last year or two and it just puts guys under pressure, and a lot of guys have to fight for a spot, which is great. All in all, it's just a lot of things coming together."

In the current T20 squad, Nortje is one of six seamers alongside Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman, Lutho Sipamla and allrounders Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch. Add the injured Kagiso Rabada, Kwena Maphaka and Nandre Burger into the mix - along with the likes of Coetzee and Lizaad Williams - and South Africa have an impressive pace battery that will leave them spoilt for choice when they select the T20 World Cup squad. Given that Nortje was their standout performer in the last edition of the tournament, in 2024, it would seem likely that, if fit, he'd be a shoe-in but the man himself is not so sure.

"We go back into SA20 as well, which is quite a few games back-to-back, so I'm just trying to focus on every game and improve as much as I can, but obviously be realistic as well. So far I've been really happy with the progress," he said. "Hopefully I can be in the squad but if not, for me it's just to try and focus game by game, day by day, and just try and get better."

Nortje will play for Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) in this year's SA20, after being part of Pretoria Capitals (PC) for the first three seasons.