George Linde has opened up about being left out of the Proteas’ 2021 T20 World Cup squad and his recall for this month’s T20I series against Pakistan.
The Western Province all-rounder has not played international cricket since September 2021, when he took 2-32 in 10 overs in an ODI against Sri Lanka. His last T20I was against Ireland in July 2021.
Linde was in the gym, on his 33rd birthday, when he received a voice note from Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter.
“I was shocked, but also very happy. I didn’t think I would be selected for South Africa again,” Linde told Rapport newspaper.
Linde earned a recall after scoring 171 runs for WP in the recent T20 Challenge at an average of 42.75 and a strike rate of 178.12, while taking nine wickets at an average of 18.33 with his left-arm spin.
Linde said being omitted from the Proteas squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup had hit him hard.
“When I was left out at the time, there was no real communication. The things that were said didn’t make sense. I couldn’t really understand the cricketing reasons, like my batting wasn’t good and cost me my place.
“I doubted myself,” he admitted. “Am I still good enough? In the two to three months after I was dropped, I wanted to get away from cricket for a while, but I was contracted to Kent for two seasons. Other times I tried to prove the critics wrong, but my focus was wrong.”
Linde suffered a knee injury in October last year, which required surgery, and then took some time off from cricket during the off-season which allowed him to return to the WP setup refreshed.
He credits WP batting coach Qaasim Adams for helping him improve his “repertoire of attacking shots” and WP bowling coach Justin Kemp for helping him “get rid of bad habits like suddenly jumping out wider in the delivery action”.
Linde said Kemp had also told him that he “could play for the Proteas again and I could add value to South Africa with my versatility”.
Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
