30 September 2019, by: Rohit Sankar of  CricXtasy

Keshav Maharaj: A change in the Proteas sub-continent approach

In 2004, South Africa were denied the services of their premier spinner, Nicky Boje, as they set out on a tour of India. The left-arm spinner had backed out of the series fearing investigations by the Delhi police.

At Kanpur in the first Test, South Africa fielded four-Test old Robin Peterson as their main spinner and when he did not click, they went with an all pace attack (yes, you read that right!) at Kolkata where Justin Ontong, a part-time spinner, went on to bowl 28.5 overs, returning with the wicket of Harbhajan Singh alone. South Africa lost that Test, but it wasn’t all one-way traffic.

For non-Asian countries that pack their sides with the best spinners from their domestic game before a sub-continental series, South Africa were demigods. They had a potent pace attack and banked on that strength to stifle India in their backyard. It was a template not many could emulate but gave South Africa genuine success. Much of that would be owing to one man, Dale Steyn.

In six Tests in India, Steyn has 26 wickets at a miserly average of 21.38. Among bowlers to take 50-plus wickets in Asia, Steyn’s strike rate of 42.9 is the third best after Waqar Younis and Richard Hadlee. It sort of underlines the impact the fast bowler has had in sub-continental conditions.

It also says a lot about how important pacers have been to South Africa in these conditions. In India, no visiting team has a better win percentage than South Africa; this by touring the nation most times without a standout spinner who can lead the attack.

Now, Dale Steyn is gone. Morne Morkel is gone. Kyle Abbott, who had toured last time, is also gone.

Their highest wicket-taker among the current crop of players in India is a part-time left-arm spinner – Dean Elgar. But holding the aces as they embark on one of their toughest assignments in recent times is another left-arm spinner – Keshav Maharaj, just 25 Tests old and less than 30 years of age.

The Indian origin left-arm spinner is probably a pioneer in that he would be leading South Africa’s spin attack in a tour of India. From Paul Adams to Paul Harris to Nicky Boje to Claude Henderson and Robin Peterson, South Africa have produced a slew of left-arm spinners but in his short career so far, Maharaj has put to rest doubts regarding who the best left-arm spinner in South African colours is.

Maharaj’s debut Test in Perth in Australia was a major sign of things to come from this talent. At the WACA, often dubbed as a ground where pace bowlers unleash their fury, South Africa lost Dale Steyn by day 2 to an injury.

Conceding a 158-run opening stand, South Africa lost Steyn soon after and only had 242 in their first innings on the board. Bridging Steyn’s gap and stepping up for him was a debutant.

Maharaj completed Steyn’s overs and bowled 18 overs for 56 runs while picking up the key wickets of Steven Smith, Peter Nevill and Mitchell Starc.

In the second innings, he was the workhorse for Faf du Plessis and sent down 40-plus overs as South Africa won by 177 runs, a comeback largely made possible by tons from Dean Elgar and JP Duminy. But the role of Maharaj in ironing out the massive void left by Steyn cannot be stressed enough.

Maharaj has had success in conditions where spinners usually struggle – England, New Zealand and Australia aside from South Africa. In Sri Lanka – to date, his only tour outside the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) nations – Maharaj scripted history by returning with the best ever figures by a South African in the post-Apartheid period.

For someone diligent and hardworking as Maharaj, this wasn’t an impossible task. It involved a lot of work in the background as well. In a recent interview with CricXtasy, South Africa’s performance analyst, Prasanna Raman, raved about the find called Maharaj and the kind of work he put in ahead of that Sri Lankan tour.

“Maharaj came all the way last year and put up some brilliant performances. He stayed at my house for five days and alongside Tabraiz Shamsi I took them to places like Bengaluru nets. I got them exposed to those dusty wickets to get them used to conditions that would be there in Colombo when we tour Sri Lanka later that year. There’s no need for players to do that. They barely have time to sit at home. You remember what Maharaj did – a nine-wicket haul in Sri Lanka. Now when he comes to India, he is going to bowl to the top batsmen in the world, but he has a hang of the conditions,” Prasanna Raman said.

Maharaj’s 9 for 129 at Colombo did not help South Africa to a Test win, but at a time the Proteas batsmen were being dumbfounded by Sri Lanka’s spin attack, Maharaj gave South Africa an avenue through which they could redeem some hurt reputations.

As an Indian Test series beckons, Maharaj remains their biggest hope. He is one able successor to two left-arm spinners – Monty Panesar or Steven O’Keefe – who have had massive success in India in recent times. If Maharaj can do what the other two have done in 2012 and 2017 respectively, South Africa will smell a chance, particularly since their bowling attack as a whole – even with some big names retiring – is probably better shaped than those two teams.

MORE CRICKET