Anrich Nortje sports moustache for Ireland series, fans draw Johnson, Singam parallel

Ahead of South Africa's series opener of the three-match ODI series against Ireland. the Proteas shared a picture of quickie Anrich Nortje's new look on Friday. South Africa play the first ODI against Irelkand at the Village in Dublin following which the remainder of two games will be played on July 13 and July 16 respectively. Cricket South Africa's Twitter page shared an image of Anrich Nortje's new look comparing it to former Australian cricketer Merv Hughes.

The response by the fans was quick and led to some hilarious responses from them. Some fans even compared Nortje's moustache to that of the legendary Mitchell Johnson's 2013 'fierce' Ashes look.

Who wore it best?

Cricket South Africa uploaded the image with the words "Who wore it best? Anrich Nortje or Merv Hughes?"

One user compared Nortje to Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, where he was a key member of the Australian cricket team in its 5–0 whitewash of England in the 2013–14 Ashes series. He played in all five Test matches of the series, taking a total of 37 wickets at an average of 13.97 and winning the player of the series award.

Another user was quick to point out the lopsided length of the handlebar moustache that Nortje was sporting saying that he needed to trim a bit to match the length.

One user pointed out how Nortje was their very own "Singam Suriya" referring to the actor Saravanan Sivakumar.

Another user compared Nortje to the fast bowler in the move "Lagan"

A user stated that Merv Hughes had the better "bar" but "the other guy was almost there."

Anrich Nortje named Proteas' newcomer of 2020

Anrich Nortje made his international debut for the South Africa cricket team in March 2019. In July 2020, Nortje was named the newcomer of the year at Cricket South Africa's annual awards ceremony

In August 2020, Anrich Nortje joined the Delhi Capitals as a replacement for Chris Woakes in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL). On 14 October 2020, during the 30th match of the 2020 IPL, Nortje bowled at the speed of 156.22 km/h (97 mph), the fastest delivery to date in the IPL.

In April 2021, he was named in Eastern Province's squad, ahead of the 2021–22 cricket season in South Africa

He made his Test debut for South Africa, also against India, on 10 October 2019. In January 2020, in the fourth Test against England, Nortje took his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket. In March 2020, he was awarded with a national contract by Cricket South Africa ahead of the 2020–21 season.

(Image Credits: Cricket South Africa Twitter)