Nandre Burger ruled out of MLC 2026

Due to a recurrence of a stress reaction in his back, South African quick Nandre Burger will not compete in MLC 2026. After scans revealed a pre-existing stress reaction, Burger, a member of the Texas Super Kings, will leave the tournament for a "prolonged period of rest and rehabilitation," according to a statement from the team. Dian Forrester, a fellow South African, was chosen to take his place. Forrester, who made his debut for the international team earlier this year against New Zealand and played five Twenty20 Internationals, is a batting all-rounder who can hit 140 and has taken 14 wickets in 39 Twenty20 matches so far. As an injury replacement for Jamie Overton, he played for Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 2025/26 and Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2026. He also represented South Africa A on a recent tour of England. Burger, who is 30 years old, played twice for the Super Kings. He bowled his entire quota in the tournament's opening match against the Seattle Orcas and two overs as first-change against the San Francisco Unicorns a few days later, taking Finn Allen out. The day after, he was replaced by Adam Milne for the third game. The left-arm quick has a history of injuries. In October 2024, a lumbar stress reaction kept him out of the Ireland series, which could have been his ODI debut, and the Bangladesh Tests. He missed the subsequent SA20 due to the same injury. Burger had to deal with similar back issues even before he played in his first game for South Africa. He suffered a lower back injury in November 2021 that ended his domestic season, managing to return for Western Province after almost a year away from the game. Last December, Burger suffered a hamstring injury that affected his participation in the second India ODI, and ruled him out of the third ODI. He returned to the country to play 13 matches in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals, picking up 14 wickets at 31.42, joint-second on the wickets column for the team this season. He was selected as Sandeep Sharma's injury replacement at RR last year, but he did not play.