Champions Trophy 2025 – South Africa call up George Linde as cover for injured Aiden Markram

Markram is the latest in a massive list of injured players. Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, Lizaad Williams – all fast bowlers – were ruled out even before the tournament started.

Linde will join the South African camp on Tuesday evening but will not officially replace Markram in the squad unless he is ruled out and the ICC’s event technical committee confirms the swap. It is likely that South Africa added him to the group in the event that they qualify for a Dubai final against India, where conditions are drier and they need an extra spinner. They currently have two specialist spinners in the squad: Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, but only Maharaj has played in Pakistan. India played four spinners in their most recent match against New Zealand in Dubai.

In the 2025 SA20, Linde played a key role in MI Cape Town winning their maiden title. In 11 games, Linde scored 161 runs at a strike rate of 153.33 and picked up 11 wickets at an economy of 6.29. More recently, playing for Western Province in the One-Day Challenge Division One, he scored 106 runs and took four wickets in five games.