Enrique Nortje in his tireless quest to find the ‘missing ingredient’ | Cricket News – Times of India

Rajkot: South African fast bowler Enrique Nortje He says he is a work in progress and is constantly trying to find the ‘missing ingredient’ in his bowling after returning from a long injury.
Nortje was ruled out for six months after the T20 World Cup last year. He bowled exceptionally well in 2020-2021 IPL The season before being sidelined due to a stress fracture.
Along with Kagiso Rabada, Nortje formed arguably the most powerful fast bowling pairing in the IPL.
Delhi Capitals decided to keep him ahead of Rabada, but when he made a comeback in this year’s IPL, Nortje was not the same bowler.

(PTI photo)
“I’m still not there. I’m still working on it, still trying to find a thing or two. Physically I’m still not 100 percent, slowly building it up I will probably judge myself from where I was at the end. The start of the IPL and the T20 World Cup last year. Still trying to get there,” Nortje said on Thursday.
Nortje was working hard ahead of the fourth T20 International against India. He bowled at the middle wicket with Dwayne Pretorius and the spinner for a while Tabrez Shamsi,
So, what exactly is lacking in his bowling?
“If I had known exactly what it was, I would have done it (laughs). It’s going to be a minor adjustment. I normally keep it simple. I’m working on something at this stage and We’ll see how it goes.
“It’s not like it’s completely out of shape. It’s all about small margins for me and I want to go back to where I was,” said the 28-year-old.

Nortje said the injury taught him an important lesson.
“It was tough (the comeback phase) because some things are limited. Some bowling is limited. You can’t go out and bowl 8 to 9 overs every day. It’s been a good challenge and it will help if anyone is there in the future. The niggles or the injury is progressing,” he said.
Like India’s Umran Malik, who is yet to get a game in the series, Nortje built his reputation regularly by bowling in excess of 150 kmph. He also held the record of fastest delivery in IPL for some time but in this season Lockie Ferguson Raised the bar at a speed of 157.3 kmph.
Asked about the pace war, Nortje said he was not in the race for Malik or any other fast bowler.
“Malik is a good bowler and a very fast bowler. He has shown it on the field. If he goes fast, good for him, if I go, fast is good for me. It’s not about fast bowling. Well, it’s about winning the game,” Nortje said.
the legacy quinton de kock Stay back?
Star opener Quinton de Kock has not played since the first match of the series in Delhi with a wrist injury and South Africa are heavily dependent on him. He was present at the nets on Thursday, raising hopes of his return, but Nortje did not reveal much.

(AP photo)
“I’m not sure but he’s practicing. Nice to see he’s practicing. Maybe we’ll find out tonight or tomorrow morning,” Nortje said.
He is also relieved that international teams are finally breaking away from the bio-bubble after two years.
“To be honest, it’s a relief that we haven’t been out of the hotel much. It doesn’t look like we’re in grade one where we’re told every single minute of the day,” he said.
South Africa lost the third game after two big wins. Nortje said that his team will consider the fourth T20 match as a ‘final’.