Staying confined to his hotel room for 10 days was "quite a lot" for him and Delhi Capitals fast bowler Anrich Nortje is hoping to get into the act straightaway against Punjab Kings in the IPL in Mumbai on Sunday. Points Table | Schedule & Fixture | News
Nortje had to spend an extended period of time in quarantine due to a false positive result for COVID-19. However, the fast bowler re-joined the camp on Friday after testing negative thrice.
"Ten days in the room was quite a lot for me. It was nice to get out, run around and bowl a bit. I really enjoyed it and hopefully I can build it up from here on," said Nortje in a press release issued by his franchise on Saturday.
Nortje is hopeful that the team would bring its A-game and make the best use of the conditions at the Wankhede Stadium.
DC skipper Rishabh Pant, relatively inexperienced in terms of IPL captaincy, lost the plot in the last game where he didn't finish his best bowler Ravichandran Ashwin's quota and instead used Tom Curran's friendly medium pacers.
Speaking about the match against Punjab Kings, Nortje said the Delhi franchise cannot underestimate any team.
"There's no team that's got a bad team so every side is really competitive, and it can come off for anyone on any day. We are definitely not going to underestimate anyone and hopefully we can bring our A-game," Nortje said.
Having missed the first two matches, Nortje is for hoping for a strong comeback by the team after Thursday's defeat against Rajasthan Royals.
When asked about the make-up of the Delhi Capitals squad, the South African said, "We are unfortunately missing Shreyas (Iyer), but we definitely have a great combination of players. We have got a great bowling line-up as well."
"It's just about picking the right team on the right wicket and conditions. We definitely have a lot of options in our bowling line-up, which is really nice to have and hopefully we can make the best of the conditions and the different players that we have got."
