By: Sports DeskDecember 29, 2025 01:30 AM IST 3 min readSouth African pacer Anrich Nortje is hoping to receive a call-up to the national team for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2026, scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka. He described the last two months as the ideal build-up for his complete international comeback.Nortje returned to the action in the SA20 tournament, playing for Sunrisers Eastern Cape, where he picked up a four-wicket haul (4/13) against Paarl Royals, who were bundled out for just 49 runs, the lowest score ever in the SA20 tournament.“Hopefully I get selected but for now it’s just to try and build, take it game by game and day by day,” Nortje was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.“I had a nice little build up starting with the CSA T20 challenge and then got the call up for the India series. I’d call it the ideal build up. From here on it’s just to try and execute and work on one or two things. It’s also so busy, so it’s just to try and keep momentum going, keep a clear head and keep focus. I’d probably call it the ideal build up just from where I was a few months ago to now,” Nortje added.This is the first time Nortje has featured in the SA20 League since its inception. Earlier, Nortje was sidelined due to back injuries in editions two and three.The right-arm pacer has played just two games for South Africa in the last 18 months and was out of action from October 2024 to April 2025 and from May to November this year while recovering from his injuries.Speaking on his body, he said: “You’ve got to trust your body and you can’t worry about this or that. I don’t think it’s something I ever don’t trust,” he said. “When something’s wrong then it’s probably too late but, in general, you have to trust your body. You have to trust whatever you have to do in order to get the ball in the right area and you’ve got to know that the work that you do is the right work. When I’m out injured, I’m just motivated to get back better and build on what I can remember. It’s probably the best time to build up when you’re not injured and you go into an off-season but there’s not really a proper off season anymore. There’s always cricket so you’ve just got to try and remember as much as you can from last season and then take it into the next one.”Story continues below this adThe 32-year-old is not part of Cricket South Africa’s central contract (by his own choice), but said he is available to play for the country and hopes to be selected for the upcoming World Cup. Nortje last played a T20I match for South Africa at Dharamshala in December 2025.Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd