South Africa allrounder George Linde has joined Indian Premier League side Lucknow Super Giants as a replacement for the injured Sri Lankan Wanindu Hasaranga. Tom Moody, global director of cricket at the franchise, had revealed on Thursday, during LSG’s away tie against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens that they were going to announce the replacement in the “next 24 to 48 hours”.
His upfront attitude on the matter was appreciated by the commentators at the time. All IPL franchises are known to keep such matters close to their chests, but in what was a breath of fresh air, the former Australian all-rounder didn’t hesitate to say that Hasaranga was out, and they had found a replacement for him.
An IPL media release on Friday read: “Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have signed Protea all-rounder George Linde as a replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been ruled out of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
“Hasaranga was signed by LSG for INR 2 crore at the auction but has been sidelined due to a hamstring injury he sustained in Sri Lanka’s opening game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
“Linde, a left-handed batting all-rounder who bowls slow left-arm orthodox, has represented South Africa in 3 Tests, 4 ODIs and 37 T20Is. In T20Is, Linde has scored 403 runs and picked up 35 wickets. He brings extensive experience in the shortest format, having played 250 T20 matches.
“This will be his maiden stint in the TATA IPL. He will join LSG at his reserve price of INR 1 crore.”
LSG next against GT after Mukul Choudhary’s heroics!
After losing their season opener against Delhi Capitals, LSG have won their last two games, against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Against KKR, they were staring a defeat in the face when they needed 54 runs off 24 balls with just three wickets in hand. However, Mukul Choudhary had other ideas, and he smashed a 27-ball 54 not out with the help of seven sixes, including two in the last over to take his team over the line off the last ball of the match. Team owner Sanjiv Goenka was particularly pleased with the performance of his bunch.
LSG now host Gujarat Titans at the Ekana Stadium on Sunday in what is an afternoon game.
