Aiden Markram Injured Badly? South Africa Call Last Minute Replacement

George Linde, the left-arm spin bowling allrounder, will join the South African squad as a traveling reserve as cover for Aiden Markram at the Champions Trophy 2025. South Africa has qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament and will face New Zealand on March 5 in Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

The necessity arose after Aiden Markram, the stand-in captain, suffered a hamstring injury and left the field on Saturday while filling in for the injured Temba Bavuma against England.

Aiden Markram was sidelined for the remainder of the game after hurting his right hamstring in the field against England. To ascertain his eligibility for the semi-final matchup with New Zealand, he will take a fitness test during training on Tuesday night.

George Linde called up as back-up for Aiden Markram by South Africa

Aiden Markram is the most recent member of an extensive list of wounded athletes. Even before the competition began, fast bowlers Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger, and Lizaad Williams were ruled out.

“I think it's all right, it was mostly precautionary over anything else. It feels okay. Hopefully, over the next few days, I can get some good rest and then sort it out and be good to go from there,” Markram said after the match.

Linde officially inducted

George Linde was away from Western Province training on Monday, March 3, as he traveled to the Champions Trophy, albeit none of the Protea officials have verified this news.

According to tournament rules, Linde's inclusion requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee, which currently consists of former Protea great Shaun Pollock as well as representatives from the ICC and PCB.

The 33-year-old Linde has been playing well in all formats this season, but his last ODI for the Proteas was in Colombo in September 2021. Last year, he made a spectacular return to the Proteas T20I team.

SA20 heroics helped George Linde

Last season, he played a key role in MI Cape Town's historic victory in the Betway SA20 championship. The left-arm spinning all-rounder was extremely unfortunate to have been left off of the Champions Trophy squad's initial roster.

Both Tony de Zorzi and Bavuma missed the England game due to illness, thus the Proteas are still awaiting their availability. The two will go to training on Tuesday to assess their match fitness as they are in the last stages of their recuperation.

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