Lucknow Super Giants’ global Director of Cricket Tom Moody has confirmed that Wanindu Hasaranga will miss the IPL 2026. The Sri Lankan all-rounder sustained a hamstring injury during the T20 World Cup, which has ruled him out of the competition.
Although the franchise waited in hopes of his recovery and availability, there was no clear timeline for his return. As a result, the team management opted to bring in a replacement, signing George Linde of South Africa, who has previously represented his national side in 3 Tests, 4 ODIs, and 37 T20Is.
“Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have signed Protea all-rounder George Linde as a replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been ruled out of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026,” IPL’s official statement confirmed the development.
Meanwhile, Linde has never featured in the IPL. He had set his base price at INR 1 crore in the auction, but the 34-year-old went unsold. Now, even though the all-rounder hasn’t featured in the cash-rich league, he has enough experience in franchise cricket, having played for the MI franchise in SA20 and Major League Cricket.
Can Linde break into the playing XI?
Lucknow are playing three overseas players in the ongoing IPL 2026 season. Hence, it won’t be surprising if they make room to fit in Linde. The South Africa international could replace Manimaran Siddharth in the playing XI, as he could also give returns with the bat. Linde has a strike rate of 136.88 in the format, which could be handy in the lower order.
LSG, on the other hand, have won two out of their three matches so far in the league. Both their wins came off in the final over of the match. Against KKR, the match seemed to have slipped out of their reach, but Mukul Choudhary’s charismatic knock got the job done in the previous game.
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