Two-time winners India and tournament hosts Pakistan, who also happen to be the defending champions, are yet to unveil their squads for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, with all the other participating teams having done so by Monday. South Africa, in the meantime, have already suffered an injury setback with pacer Anrich Nortje ruled out of the upcoming tournament with a back injury.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed the injury to the 31-year-old pacer that will not only rule him out of the Champions Trophy but also the rest of the SA20 season, in which he was set to represent Pretoria Capitals but hasn’t been able to so far.
Nortje had also missed the 2023 World Cup, in which the Temba Bavuma-led Proteas had reached the semi-finals before suffering a narrow defeat against eventual champions Australia in Kolkata. He has not made any international appearance since the T20 World Cup, in which he was among the leading wicket-takers as South Africa finished runners-up after losing to India in the summit clash in Barbados.
Nortje was due to participate in the limited-overs series against Pakistan last month, but couldn’t do so due to broken toe that he suffered after being hit by a David Miller yorker in the nets.
South Africa, who had won the inaugural edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998 (then known as the ICC KnockOut Tournament) after defeating West Indies in the final, are yet to officially name a replacement for Nortje. However, it is widely believed that white-ball coach Rob Walter will name Gerald Coetzee, who was among the standout performers in the ODI World Cup in India, in his stead.
