South Africa will play three T20Is against England.
It is never a nice feeling to be left out from a squad. Things hurt even more if words said otherwise a few weeks ago. South Africa star George Linde is going through a similar phase in his career right now. After being quoted as one of the bowlers who will be the mainstay for the Proteas in the T20I mega-event next year, Linde finds himself out of the squad which will be locking horns with England in three T20Is.
South Africa coach Shukri Conrad had been very vocal in front of the media with respect to the all-rounder’s future. According to his statement, Linde, Senuran Muthusamy and Nqaba Peter were the three frontline spinners for the Proteas come the T20 World Cup in 2026. After just two series, Muthusamy is the only player to still hold a place in the squad for the shortest format.
Protea veteran Keshav Maharaj was also included in the squad to play the three T20Is against England. Maharaj will feature in T20Is for the first time under Shukri Conrad at the helm. On the other hand, both Linde and Peter were excluded.
The 33-year-old opened up to Independent Media, stating that he was still in the dark about his exclusion from the shortest format. He also stated that he was yet to have a word with Conrad on the matter. Not having an idea of where he stands in the pecking order is not a very nice feeling to have for any player, and Linde has been forced to go down that lane, through his exclusion.
Linde went further to state that things were promised to him, and that he wishes to play for the country again. On whether he would be in the squad for the T20 World Cup next year, Linde had a clear answer. He voiced that he would like to wait and see if he will be on the plane to the subcontinent. He went a notch ahead and spoke some good words for Conrad about the way he manages his players.
” In terms of where I’m at now in the pecking order, I’ve got no idea, and it is what it is. Things were promised to me, and I don’t know, we’ll see if it’s still true or not, but hopefully I’ll get back and play for (the country) again”, said Linde in the interview with Independent Media.
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Linde’s recent performances in the series against Zimbabwe and Australia were not great to speak of. And the bowling all-rounder is well aware of that. He accepted that he was going through a lean patch. Furthermore, he also stated that his form was back after a successful stint in The Hundred.
Dealing with being dropped comes with a lot of challenges. Linde has been through that once in his career before. He pushed himself to a position from where he did not want to play the game anymore. Having committed that mistake before, he stated that he would not go anywhere near the same feeling again.
Instead of that, Linde is focused on performing for Western Province at home. He also said that the main way to keep churning out consistent performances was by staying in the franchise leagues.
“I guess everyone is allowed to have a bad tournament or a series or whatever, and I wouldn’t look too deep into that”, said Linde about his recent form.
Unfortunately enough for the Protea star, he suffered an injury to his finger in the Final of The Hundred, and is expected to be out of the game for four to six weeks. But the squad for the England T20I series was declared before the Final, and hence, his exclusion remains to be a point of concern.
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