South Africa cricket team pacer Anrich Nortje has joined the Kolkata Knight Riders camp ahead of IPL 2025. The bowler, who was previously associated with the franchise in 2019, joins the side amid concerns over his fitness. He recently missed the Champions Trophy due to a back injury. Ahead of the new season, Nortje expressed happiness on reuniting with the franchise once again.
Nortje rearing to go for KKR in IPL 2025
Ahead of KKR’s tournament opener against RCB on March 22, Nortje said that he was exicited to be back in the KKR camp. In 2019, he was roped in by the defending champions but did not play a single game as he had pulled out owing to an injury.
“Beautiful place, beautiful ground to be at, really excited to be and looking forward to that first game. Obviously, the most important thing for now is just to get the prep done, but you are nice to just take everything in for now and hopefully build up to a successful season,” Nortje said.
The injury-probe pacer will return to action in IPL 2025 for the first time since December 2024. Nortje was gearing up for Champions Trophy but suffered a fractured toe that saw him being ruled out of the tournament. The Proteas star was released by DC ahead of the mega auction and was bought by KKR for Rs 6.4 crore. He will now spearhead the side’s pace attack in IPL 2025.
| Mat | WKTS | Ave | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 60 | 26.23 | 8.96 | 17.57 |
KKR’s bowling line-up will comprise of young Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, an injury-prone Umran Malik and Spencer Johnson, apart from Nortje.
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Economy | Average |
| Harshit Rana | 21 | 25 | 9.05 | 23.24 |
| Vaibhav Arora | 20 | 19 | 9.18 | 30.84 |
| Spencer Johnson | 5 | 4 | 9.44 | 34.75 |
| Umran Malik | 26 | 29 | 9.40 | 26.62 |
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