George Linde replaces injured Keshav Maharaj for South Africa's final Test against India

Sudhir Gupta 21:18 13/10/2019
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  • South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj.

    South Africa’s woes in the ongoing series against India have only worsened with left-armed spin ace Keshav Maharaj being ruled out of the third and final Test in Ranchi.

    The 29-year-old injured his shoulder in the recently concluded second Test in Pune which the visitors lost by a mammoth margin of an innings and 137 run. The southpaw has been one of the better performers for the Proteas in the two matches so far with both bat and ball.

    Maharaj has claimed six wickets with his orthodox spin while he has also been a lively figure with the bat after registering his career-best 72 in the first innings in Pune.

    With Maharaj set for a two-three week spell on the sidelines to recuperate from his injury, South Africa have handed a maiden call-up to George Linde for the Ranchi Test which is set to get underway on Saturday.

    Like Maharaj, Linde too is a left-armed orthodox spinner with 45 first-class matches under his belt in which he has claimed a total of 160 wickets.

    The 27-year-old was a part of the South Africa ‘A’ outfit which recently toured India and claimed six wickets in his four appearances during the unofficial one-day series against India ‘A’.

    South Africa already have two other spinners currently on the tour in the form of Senuran Muthusamy and Dane Piedt. Neither have really been impressive with the former claiming just two wickets in as many matches while the latter was dropped for the Pune Test after picking just the solitary dismissal in Vizag.

    The visitors trail by 0-2 in the three-match series after their comprehensive losses in Vizag and Pune and they will hope to put up a much stronger fight in the Ranchi clash.

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