I never want the captain to take the ball away from me: Keshav Maharaj

Keshav Maharaj loves to bowl and he could do that even if you wake him up at two o'clock in the morning. The left-arm spinner from South Africa displayed his “love for spin bowling” in the first Test against West Indies in Trinidad when he bowled 40 overs unchanged from one end.

He was introduced into the attack by skipper Temba Bavuma in the 13th over of West Indies’ innings during the first session of Day 3. He bowled through the small rain interruptions, continued bowling in the afternoon and evening sessions, and ended his spell late on Day 4, which started after a very long rain break. 

South Africa also took the new ball after the stipulated 80 overs were done, but it didn’t make Bavuma operate with pace from both ends as Maharaj continued to bowl, with Aiden Makram bowling from the other end. Maharaj eventually finished with figures of 4/76 in 40 overs.

"My passion is spin bowling. I love it. I can wake up at two o'clock in the morning and if you ask me to bowl, I'll bowl. That keeps me motivated. And also, the desire to want to do well for the team and take this team into a different direction, I'll bowl the whole day if I need to,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Maharaj as saying after the first Test, which ended in a draw.

"I never want the captain to take the ball away from me in Test cricket so I'm always trying to bowl my best ball and trying to be a wily old character.

"Whatever format I play, I always keep my workloads as if I'm preparing for Test cricket. The only thing that changes is your lengths and sometimes your lines a little bit, but from a longevity point of view, I still bowl my long hours, regardless of whether it's T20 or fifty-over cricket. It's something I pride myself in. I don't have many variations like the other types of spinners around the world, so I try to rely on consistency and being able to do it for long periods of time."

The surface at the Queen's Park Oval was offering enough assistance to the spinners, but the Proteas went with just one frontline tweaker in their XI, with Aiden Markram chipping in with 21 overs of off-spin across two innings. “We got it [selection] right in the end. Aiden did an exceptional job as our fourth bowler, created opportunities and got that pivotal breakthrough in the morning of the West Indies first innings."

South Africa took a 124-run lead in the first innings and then declared after scoring 173/3 in the second essay, setting West Indies a target of 298. West Indies got to 201/5 in the second innings, and the game ended in a draw. Maharaj felt the surface got easier to bat because of multiple rain interruptions.

"The constant rainfall bound the wicket and made it more pleasant to bat. If there wasn't so much time taken away due to the rain, I think the wicket would have deteriorated the way we expected it to,” said Maharaj, who picked up four wickets in 26.2 overs in the second innings.  

"It's obviously disappointing not to get a result. We're always going to play cricket to ensure that we can give ourselves the best chance, even if that process dangles the carrot with the prospect of losing a game. Draws don't count for much. We obviously know there's a World Test Championship at stake, but we're focusing on each and every game."

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.