THEY CAN’T ‘ROB’ US

GEORGE Linde believes former Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter’s inside knowledge won’t give New Zealand a significant edge when the two sides meet on Wednesday at Harare Sports Club (1pm start).

Now coaching the Black Caps, Walter spent two years with South Africa, but Linde feels the current T20 squad is a different beast.

Linde wysed: “Look, if you look around our squad, I can say there are a lot of new faces. So, it’s probably not the A side, well, the proper Proteas side.

“Most of the guys are resting, [they are getting a] well-deserved rest after the World Test Championship final. There are a lot of fresh faces, guys who want to do well for the Proteas and make their mark on the side. I think there’s a lot of new faces and everyone plays differently.”

Linde, who impressed in Monday’s five-wicket win over Zimbabwe with two wickets in the tri-series opener, is part of a new-look spin trio that also features Nqaba Peter and Senuran Muthusamy. Backed publicly by coach Shukri Conrad as a frontline spinner for next year’s T20 World Cup in India, Linde said that support has given him freedom and confidence.

He added: “Look, we [with Conrad] had a good conversation a month or two ago. It was positive, and he did say he wants me to be part of this T20 squad, and then we’ll take things from there. I told him, I want to play for South Africa, I want to make myself available, and I want to give myself the best chance to play for South Africa.”

While Linde acknowledged that New Zealand’s players are sharper after stints in the IPL, Major League Cricket, and county cricket, he remains optimistic.

Linde said: “If you look at their squad, they’ve played quite a bit of cricket, and so did we as well. So, it’s obviously going to be a good game and hopefully we’ll go one ahead of them.”