Lahore, March 4
South Africa has roped in Geroge Linde as the cover for batter Aiden Markram ahead of their ICC Champions Trophy semifinal against New Zealand on Tuesday, following the latter's hamstring injury during their last league stage match against England.
Linde, a left-arm spin bowling all-rounder, will be joining the squad as a travelling reserve. During the last match against England, Markram had trouble with his hamstring and spent the rest of the match on the sidelines. He will have a fitness test on Tuesday evening that will decide his availability for the semifinal, as per ESPNCricinfo.
Markram is the latest injury to be added to Proteas' list, with pacers Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, and Lizaad Williams ruled out before the competition started.
Linde will be joining the Proteas camp on Tuesday evening but will not replace Markram until he is ruled out and ICC's event technical committee makes a confirmation of the swap.
It is likely that Proteas added him in the group in case they qualify for the final against India in Dubai, where the conditions are much drier and they could need an extra spinner. Proteas have two specialist spinners in their squads, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, but only Maharaj played against Pakistan. India played four spinners in their most recent match against New Zealand in Dubai, including Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy and the move paid off well.
In this year's SA20 competition, Linde played a crucial role in MI Cape Town's maiden title win, with 161 runs in a strike rate of 153.33 and an average of over 40 in eight innings and 11 matches. He also picked 11 wickets at an average of 6.29. Also, while representing Western Province in the One-Day Challenge Division One, he made 106 runs and took four wickets in five matches.
Another travelling reserve with the squad is left-arm pacer Kwena Maphaka. Meanwhile, batters Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi have recovered from illness and will start their training.
- ANI