South Africa suffered a major setback ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, as experienced fast bowler Anrich Nortje was ruled out of the 50-over tournament with a worrying back injury. Nortje has not played any international cricket since the T20 World Cup 2024 final last June and his comeback plans have been marred by unfortunate setbacks.
Anrich Nortje planned to return to action for South Africa’s recent white-ball series against Pakistan. However, the fast bowler’s hopes were dashed when his teammate David Miller’s crushing Yorker broke his toe during the net session.
The fiery pacer, who is known for his express pace, has opted out of the 2024/25 Test season. aiming to preserve his injury-prone body to flourish his franchise and white-ball career with the Proteas. But this move didn’t work for him either.
Big blow for South Africa as Anrich Nortje rules out ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Namely, Nortje did not participate in the current SA20 2025 for Pretoria Capitals. The star pacer was last seen in action on December 2 in the Abu Dhabi T10. Despite missing a lot of cricket, Cricket South Africa (CSA) named Nortje in the 15-man squad for the upcoming 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
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However, just over 48 hours later, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced that Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan and Dubai (matches in India). The CSA said Nortje underwent a scan on Monday (January 13) afternoon and was not expected to recover in time for the 50-over tournament.
Cricket South Africa said in a press release that Nortje “underwent a scan which revealed the extent of the injury. He is not expected to recover in time” to play in the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy, where South Africa will begin their campaign against Afghanistan in Karachi on February 21.
Anrich Nortje will miss the ICC ODI tournament for the third time
Anrich Nortje has been forced to miss the ICC ODI tournament due to injury for the unlucky third time. Despite being one of the fastest and most fearsome bowlers in the world, the Proteas star is yet to showcase his skills in an ICC 50-over tournament.
He was ruled out of the 2019 World Cup with a thumb injury and history repeated itself ahead of the 2023 World Cup, as a suspected lower back stress fracture forced him to miss the 50-over tournament in India. Now Nortje’s dreams of the 2025 Champions Trophy have also been dashed by a back injury.
However, Nortje’s story in the T20 World Cups was different, as the Proteas pacer was able to feature in all three ICC events—2021, 2022 and 2024—and was sensational for the South African side with the ball.
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Gerald Coetzee is likely to replace Nortje in the 2025 Champions Trophy squad
Meanwhile, the CSA said in a press release that Nortje’s replacement would be appointed “in due course”. However, Gerald Coetzee will almost certainly be called up as Nortje’s replacement for the upcoming Eight Nations tournament.
South Africa’s white-ball coach and sole selector, Rob Walter, revealed he had to choose between Nortje and Coetzee, and embraced the senior bowler’s experience with the hope of declaring him fit in time for the prestigious tournament.
