The red-ball format tends to bring out the “fighter” within players and that is what seems to resonate most with George Linde, who feels the mental aspect of the game is what largely defines cricketers.

Linde had recently shown his versatility as a player, plying his trade and excelling in all three codes of the game. 

He got particular recognition during his T20I debut in late November against England where, as a spinning all-rounder, he took figures of 2/20, including the best economy rate of all the South African bowlers.  

His day with the bat came more in the second match, where he scored a swift 29 runs, with a solid strike-rate of 145.00, before being unluckily run out.

However, it is in the 4-Day game and Test cricket wherein Linde revels the most, since he almost likens it to a marathon and not a sprint and it is the format where “you can bowl a lot and bat for a long time”.

“I just feel the red-ball game is my strongest,” Linde told Cricket Fanatics Magazine.

“I favour it because I can take more wickets and I can get two opportunities to have a go, with both bat and ball.

“If you have one bad innings with the ball then you can still get it right and win the game in the second innings, whereas in T20 cricket you only have four overs.”

This is a snippet of the article in issue 7 of Cricket Fanatics Magazine. Subscribe below to see the full story.