AB de Villiers lauds Bjorn Fortuin and George Linde after impressive debut in India

South Africa of late finished with their disastrous tour of India. Barring the third T20I at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, the Proteas were beaten black and blue by Virat Kohli and Co. In the meantime, the visitors also had a few positives to take away, two of them were left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin and all-rounder George Linde. Both made their debut on the tour.

Bjorn Fortuin was impressive on the tour, picking up three wickets and not giving away too many runs. Linde didn’t get a chance in the series, and wasn’t in the initial squad for the Tests as well. However, prior to the third Test, Keshav Maharaj injured his shoulder and Linde was called up. He was given his maiden international cap and he didn’t disappoint by any means.

Even as the other South African batters strained, Linde turned up with 37 and 27 in tough conditions. He was also the visitors’ standout bowler in the encounter, having picked up four wickets, though conceding 133 runs. Both Fortuin and Linde were praised by veteran AB de Villiers.

They seem more mature than they supposed to be: AB de Villiers

“Guys like Lutho Sipamla, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen and a guy like Fortuin, who had a opportunity recently, and George – there’s so many that all of a sudden appear on the big stage and when they get an opportunity on international level, they seem to be ready,” De Villiers was quoted as saying in sacricketmag.com.

The former Proteas cricketer feels that they are more matured than him at an young age. The enigmatic batsman also reckons that the series versus India will help in the growth of cricket in South Africa.

“They seem more mature than they supposed to be at a young age, certainly more than I was when I was young, so a tournament like this is incredible important for the strength and the depth of our cricket in South Africa,” the middle-order batsman added.

After the drubbing at the hands of India, South Africa are next scheduled to host England for an ODI, Test and T20I series. The tour starts from December 17 and will continue until February 16.

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