Delhi Capitals, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise on Tuesday announced Proteas placer Anrich Nortje as the replacement for England all-rounder Chris Woakes for the upcoming edition of the tournament. Nortje was with the Kolkata franchise last season, but a shoulder injury cut short his chances of making an IPL. “I am excited to join the Delhi Capitals, a team that was the talk of the tournament last season. With its exciting mix of experienced and young players and a stellar coaching line up, there is no doubt this is going to be a massive learning experience for me. I am grateful to the Delhi Capitals management for giving me this opportunity,” Nortje said in an official release issued by Delhi Capitals.
Nortje had made his Test debut in 2019 against India, and has to his credit, a total of 19 wickets from 6 Test matches, 14 wickets from 7 ODIs, and 2 wickets from 3 T20Is.
Nortje, who was named as Cricket South Africa’s Newcomer of the Year for 2020, will be joining fellow South African Kagiso Rabada at Delhi Capitals.
The side will be led by Shreyas Iyer this year and Ricky Ponting is the coach of the side.
Earlier this year, Woakes had pulled out of the IPL to keep himself fit for international summer.
In December 2019, Woakes was acquired by Delhi Capitals for his base price of INR 1.5 crore in the players’ auction.
Woakes had then decided to skip the IPL to keep himself fresh for the busy international summer.
The IPL 2020 will be held in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.
For the first time, the finals of the IPL will be played on a weekday (Tuesday).
The tournament was slated to be played from March 29, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 13th edition of the T20 tournament will be staged at three venues (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah) in the UAE.
“Taking note of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in India, the IPL GC decided to stage the tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the matches will be played in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi subject to necessary clearances from the Government of India,” BCCI had said in a release.
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Moreover, both the afternoon and evening matches will be played half-an-hour earlier than usual.
“IPL 2020 will be played from September 19 and the final will be played on November 10, 2020. The 53-day tournament will witness 10-afternoon matches starting at 15:30 IST while the evening matches will start at 19:30 IST,” the release had stated.
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