Maharaj’s spin to be sacrificed for pace?

SA captain Faf du Plessis has given the strongest hint yet that they may go without spinner Keshav Maharaj for the third and final Test against India.

In the last two Tests played at the Wanderers against England in 2016 and Sri Lanka in 2017‚ the Proteas went for an all-out pace attack and that trend is likely to continue as the Bullring wicket is expected to offer pace and bounce.

In the seven-wicket defeat to England two years ago‚ SA went with Morné Morkel‚ Hardus Viljoen‚ Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris with Stiaan van Zyl and Dean Elgar assisting them with the slower ball.

The Proteas beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 118 runs with the bowling attack made up of Rabada‚ Wayne Parnell‚ Vernon Philander and Duanne Olivier while JP Duminy chipped in with the slower ball.

“Playing this match without a spinner is definitely something that we are speaking about in our selection meetings‚” Du Plessis said at the Wanderers on Tuesday afternoon.

“It is an option and it was also an option in Centurion.

“We just want to make sure that we keep our options open and see what happens.

“The wicket looks like it will be the normal one but we will look again on Wednesday morning and see how it looks.

“Keshav is an extremely talented spin bowler and we are lucky to have him.

“If we do think of leaving him out‚ we will have to be 100% sure of that decision.”

If the Proteas go in the direction of attacking India with Lungi Ngidi‚ Rabada‚ Morkel and Philander‚ Maharaj’s place will be taken by either all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo or Theunis de Bruyn, who have not yet featured in this series.

“Whether we go for an allrounder to give us that option in terms of batting and bowling or generally what you can do is to play seven batters and four seamers.”