Maharaj rewarded with KZN captaincy
Patrick Compton
KESHAV Maharaj, who is captaining KwaZulu-Natal (Coastals) in the Africa T20 Cup this weekend, is arguably the most improved cricketer in the Dolphins stable.
The captaincy is another laurel for the wiry left-arm spinner and aggressive lower-order batsman. In the last two seasons, the 26-year-old has become a key component in the Dolphins’ attack in all formats of the game.
In first-class cricket, he has progressed from being a bit-part bowler in the Sunfoil (four-day) Series matches in 2012/13, to bowling more overs than anyone else in the country last summer.
At a national level, he has played for South Africa A, with his most recent outings being against England in December last year and then against Zimbabwe in July.
Maharaj hasn’t had it easy, initially struggling to hold his place in the Dolphins’ team.
“I’ve worked hard to get better, particularly in terms of my consistency,” Maharaj said shortly after his team landed in Cape Town en route to Paarl, where the final round of pool matches will be played this weekend.
Reward
His reward has been an increasingly central role in the attack. Not only is he getting more deliveries in the right areas and taking wickets, he has also worked hard at his (aggressive style of) batting in the lower order while his fielding in the outfield has improved enormously.
Increasingly, Maharaj is being touted as a contender for national honours.
“There’s been some talk, but I don’t let it bother me. My only aim at the moment is to continue playing for the Dolphins and hopefully turning in match-winning performances. If I can do that, then other things may happen.
“But there’s little point in worrying about things I can’t control.”
Maharaj’s recent improvement and accompanying responsibilities can partly be illustrated by statistics.
In the first-class averages in 2014/15, he bowled 344.4 overs, taking 36 wickets at 29.38, the most scalps for a spinner in the competition.
Last season he bowled a remarkable 409 overs, taking the same number of wickets at an average of 32.
Included in those figures was a mammoth effort against the Cobras at Kingsmead in January when he bowled a total of 93.3 overs, including 61 on the trot in the visitors’ second innings.
The last time a bowler had delivered more than a hundred overs in a first-class game in South Africa was Atholl McKinnon, who bowled an exhausting 103.5 overs for Eastern Province against Western Province in 1962.
Maharaj, born and bred in Durban, is approaching his 10th year in first-class cricket.
He acknowledged that he had received “an offer or two” to move elsewhere, but described himself as a “patriotic Dolphin” who was happy to stay.
Assessing this weekend’s pool matches, Maharaj said KZN were probably in the toughest group, which also includes Gauteng, Eastern Province and Boland.
“We’ve prepared well, and we’re trying to be the smartest team in the pool, if not necessarily the best team. We reached the semis last season, so we want to at least achieve that again this time around.”