George Linde, a left-arm spinner from South Africa, is set to join the Lucknow Super Giants as Wanindu Hasaranga's replacement. Hasaranga has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League in 2026 because he has not fully recovered from the hamstring injury he sustained at the T20 World Cup. It had previously reported that LSG was planning to move on from the Sri Lankan, a fact that was confirmed by the franchise's Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, on Thursday (April 9). "Wanindu Hasaranga won't be able to join us and we are preparing to get a replacement. We will be announcing it in the next 24 to 48 hours," the Australian said during LSG's match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. The franchise is believed to have taken the decision on Friday (April 10), They had shortlisted a couple of other overseas spinners, Mujeeb ur Rahman of Afghanistan and Liam Dawson of England. But in the end, they chose the 34-year-old South African, who has played 37 T20Is for South Africa, scoring 403 runs at 147.61 and taking 35 wickets 7.58 ER. Linde will play in the IPL for the first time this year. He will join LSG at his reserve price of INR 1 crore.