IPL 2021: South African pacer Anrich Nortje tests positive for COVID-19

Delhi Capitals dealt with another massive blow as South African pacer Anrich Nortje has tested positive for COVID-19. The 27-year-old entered the hotel quarantine with a negative result but returned a positive result in his 2nd Covid-19 test. Earlier, Delhi Capitals' left-arm spinner Axar Patel had also tested positive for coronavirus during his hotel quarantine. Anrich Nortje was one of the IPL-bound cricketers who arrived, from South Africa, last week. 

South African pace duo Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje reached Mumbai on April 6. They joined the Delhi Capitals' team hotel and have been in quarantine since then. They missed participating in DC's IPL 2021 opening game against CSK due to the mandatory seven-day quarantine period. 

Anrich Nortje was part of ODI games against Pakistan

Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, and Kagiso Rabada were the four players who left the South African team after the second ODI against Pakistan. De Kock has already featured for Mumbai Indians in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). On the other end, Rabada and Nortje both were anticipated to play against Rajasthan Royals. However, the latest advancements have put Anrich Nortje out of action and have also compromised Rabada's availability for the next match. Both the players were together on the flight during their journey from South Africa to India. Thus, it now remains to be seen if the pacer's isolation period will increase or not.

Delhi Capitals, who anticipated both the players to feature in the upcoming game, will now have to continue without their ace pacers. Nevertheless, their replacements, Chris Woakes and Tom Curran performed decently. The duo might get one more match to prove their mettle. Despite this, Delhi Capitals will unquestionably prefer two of their top wicket-takers from IPL 2020 to be available soon.

Rishabh Pant's captaincy task in the IPL got off to an impressive start as DC defeated Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in their IPL 2021 opener in Mumbai. Pant was handed over the captaincy reins after regular skipper Shreyas Iyer sustained a shoulder injury. Iyer suffered the injury during the recent ODI series against England and was ruled out of the entire tournament. Chris Woakes and Avesh Khan produced impressive performances, claiming two wickets each against CSK. However, Nortje's further absence in the tournament could hurt the momentum of the Delhi-based franchise.

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