It has been nothing short of an exciting week for Cape Cobras all-rounder George Linde, who chatted exclusively to Cricket Fanatics Magazine about his National call-up and time in India.
From being retained by the Cape Town Blitz for the second edition of the Mzansi Super League, to being called up to the Proteas T20 squad (as a replacement for Jon-Jon Smuts who failed to meet fitness requirements), it has been a phenomenal couple of weeks for Linde.
READ: GEORGE LINDE GETS PROTEAS CALL-UP
Although he has been waiting for this opportunity his whole life, now that the moment has arrived so unexpectedly, he has yet to muster up a worthy response to express the emotions he was feeling.
“I still can’t believe what has happened. It must probably still kick in I think,” he said on Thursday, the day of his national call-up.
“I just have to sleep on it, wake up tomorrow then I think it will kick in a bit more, but I’m very delighted for this opportunity.
“I’m just gonna try and enjoy it because you never know when this opportunity will come again.
“My plan is just to give my best effort and enjoy every moment learning from the best – that will be my goal.”
Linde is currently in India as part of the SA A Squad who are playing a 5-match one-day series.
He’s been in India for Spin Camps before, but this is his first time playing matches in the country. He described the new experience as unbelievable. Especially the in-game knowledge he has picked up.
“So far it’s been a great experience, it’s my first time playing in India, so I’ve learnt a few lessons here,” he added.
“The lessons I’ve learnt here with the ball is that you can bowl it a touch shorter than in South Africa. Your plans, however, must be spot on because your margin for error is smaller in India than in SA.
“With the bat, you have to play the ball a touch later than in SA, and also it doesn’t bounce as much as in SA. So, when you bat here, you need a strong base to hit from.
With regards to his time off the field, he has not done much due to the quick turnaround from game to game.
“I’ve just been chilling because we play a lot of cricket at the moment,” said Linde.
“So you don’t want to be on your feet too much, you want to chill a little bit. But we have been exploring which was good.
“I haven’t tried out anything new really, just trying to be as consistent as possible at the moment.
“I don’t want to focus too much on other stuff now, because it’s game time so you want to try and focus on competing against the batters and the bowlers.”
Being on tour travelling with the lads is sure to make for some hilarious travel stories and Linde highlighted one particular moment as his most satisfying.
“My funniest story is probably Bjorn Fortuin who can’t beat me at FIFA. He’s trying his best, but ya, he can’t beat me,” he joked.
The 27-year-old plays one more game for SA A before meeting up with the Proteas for their T20 series against India.
Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
