Being able to adapt to the conditions have helped me immensely: Nortje

South African pace sensation Anrich Nortje may have just taken only 10 wickets in 7 matches so far in this edition of the Indian Premier League, but his team Delhi capitals has benefitted immensely with his parsimonious spells. The 27-year-old spoke to this writer at length on his journey so far and various challenges of bowling fast. Here is an edited excerpt.Q: First thing first, do you find it a bit weird that most people have not been able to get the pronunciation of your name right? Tell us if your Indian teammates are getting it? What is it Nokia, Nortje, Anrich or Onrich?

Nortje: (Laughs) Anything is fine since I am not too bothered! Yes, I do understand that it is a bit difficult to pronounce but I am fine with this. As far as my teammates are concerned, they too have found a way to get it right so I have no complaints!

Q: You have a special connect with India as you travelled there with the South African A team and also got 24 wickets (in 2018-2019 season) which gave you a much-needed attention as a young pacer?

Nortje: It was really a good time in India. It was something you always heard about those conditions being tough for seamers there or how life was tough for a pacer. But, on that tour, I didn’t get too many (traditional Indian wickets) and bowled on some of the green pitches. But yeah, it was a great learning experience, overall.

Q: An Injury at a wrong time denied you a great opportunity to make your IPL debut (for KKR) and also the 2019 World Cup. But again, India proved to be the lucky charm as you made your Test debut against the host in Pune. How was that experience?

Nortje: Yeah, it was a crazy time like anything but it was also the time where I learned a lot (about myself and my body). Unfortunately, I missed out on (couple of great opportunities) but I became a better player and I am only taking the positives (from those episodes) and not worrying about those things which were not in my hand. All in all, I am happy about progress I have made so far.

Q: You have an interesting back-ground since you are a former financial planner and now you are planning bouncers for your teams!

Nortje: I only studied financial planning (and didn’t practice). Since 2017, I finished my course I have tried to play as many games. When I had injury it allowed me to finish my degree and I am very happy for that but my focus has always been on cricket.

Q: You came in as a replacement for Chris Woakes ahead of the IPL 2020 and in your maiden IPL season you delivered the goods for Delhi (22 wickets at an economy rate 8.39runs per over) but this time your economy has improved tremendously. Is that a result of some conscious effort?

Nortje: I think it is mainly due to the conditions. There has been focus from my side (to give away fewer runs) and it is always nice to learn. I have tried to understand the conditions after few games in the last seasons as it was different compared to South Africa. My major thing is my run up and my line and there has been slight improvement (on that front), some small adjustments but nothing major.

Q: What according to you defines the role of a pacer in T20 format?

Nortje: It’s nothing really! You can be bowling at 160(KMPH) and still get hit. The ability to control, try to close in areas as many you want to bowl, these are sort of basics which are important. I try to hit the top of the middle (stump) and executing (those) skills (in the game) as a pacer is challenging since you can go for a lot of runs.

Q: It is a hypothetical question but do you want to take the wicket of a Virat Kohli or a Chris Gayle for under 10 runs or will you be happy with a strike rate of under 100 by them?

Nortje: It all depends on the situations and wicket. A well-known good cricketer batting slowly on a good wicket, well, generally you want to get the guy out quickly as early as possible.

Q: What has been your impressions of young Avesh Khan (second most in this IPL with 22 wickets at an economy under 8)?

Nortje: He has done really well for us. His skill and his pace and the ability to hit yorkers is remarkable. I can’t comment on his (India) selection but he has got a very good slow ball, bouncers and Avesh is a great guy on top of it. You can see he has been under pressure and lot of credit to him for getting it right and he is a great star (for future).

Q: Finally, how do you see the evolution of the fast bowlers in this slam-bang format where it was assumed initially that your fraternity was soon going to be extinct?

Nortje: (T20 format) It has opened up the space and has given up opportunities to so many pacers. Sometimes bowling just four overs of quicky bowling is exciting but for me the main format is still Test cricket. A lot of focus still goes for T20 and the IPL as it is easy (in comparison to red ball cricket) on body but when you play back-to-back matches in this format it is not that easy to bowl those four overs (very efficiently). Red ball cricket takes more (energy) and is the most difficult format as you have to be so consistent.