Nandre Burger out of MLC 2026

South Africa quick Nandre Burger is out of MLC 2026 after a recurrence of a stress reaction in his back.

Burger, part of Texas Super Kings, will leave the tournament for a "prolonged period of rest and rehabilitation" after scans revealed a pre-existing stress reaction, the team said in a statement.

Fellow South African Dian Forrester was named as his replacement. Forrester, who made his international debut against New Zealand earlier this year, and played five T20Is, is a batting all-rounder who strikes at 140, and has taken 14 wickets in 39 T20s so far. He recently toured England as part of South Africa A, and was part of two other Super Kings setups: Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 2025/26, and Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026, as an injury replacement for Jamie Overton.

The 30-year-old Burger turned out twice for the Super Kings, bowling his full quota in the tournament opener against Seattle Orcas, and two overs as first-change against San Francisco Unicorns a couple of days later, picking up the wicket of Finn Allen. The day after, he was replaced by Adam Milne for the third game.

The left-arm quick has had a history of injury run-ins: in October 2024, he was ruled out of the Ireland series - potentially his ODI debut - as well as the Bangladesh Tests, due to a lumbar stress reaction. The same injury ruled him out of the SA20 that followed.

Even before his South Africa debut, Burger had to deal with similar issues of the back. 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. Last year, he was picked as an injury replacement for Sandeep Sharma at RR, but did not get a game.