This son of an apartheid-era wicketkeeper is the sort of spinner South Africa have been looking for for a long time
Firdose Moonda27-Oct-2016Before Keshav Maharaj had turned three, Kiran More looked at his palms and predicted: “This child will be a cricketer.”More was not angling for a career as a clairvoyant, but as a former gloveman and with the knowledge that Keshav’s father, Athmanand, was also a wicketkeeper, he must have seen something. As it turned out, it was not the palms that held Keshav’s future, but his fingers. Two decades later, Keshav has made a career as a left-arm spinner to fulfill More’s prophecy and his father’s dream.Athmanand played for Natal B during the bad old days when sport was segregated. He knew someone of his skin colour would not be able to challenge for higher honours but immersed himself in the sport anyway.”It was difficult for us, but despite the challenges we faced, we managed to produce some outstanding players. We enjoyed the game and we played it hard,” Athmanand told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a big part of our lives.”So big that it consumed Athmanand’s young son. When Keshav wasn’t receiving throwdowns, he was rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of the cricket world when South Africa were being welcomed back to the international community. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Pravin Amre.In 1992, when India travelled to South Africa for the Friendship tour, Athmanand was among the many friends the players made. Back then, it was commonplace for members of the Indian community to host the visiting team for meals, and the Maharaj home was one that the players visited.More became a family friend and remains in touch. He was the first person to give Athmanand the confidence to believe that a cricket career was possible, albeit not for him.With his playing days behind him, Athmanand worked in education, enjoyed a stint as deputy director general of sport in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province and completed cricket coaching courses, all the while giving his son lessons in the game. Keshav played in the backyard, in the Bakers Mini-Cricket progamme (a developmental sports programme for primary school kids), and at school. He was a left-arm seamer and a decent batsman.One day in the nets, Keshav was “mad about something” and decided to bowl spin. He told the that nobody stopped him from making the switch and the new bowling style simply stuck. No one was happier than Athmanand .
“When we have needed a spinner to stop the game, he has done exactly that, but at the same time he has remained an attacking bowler and has always picked up wickets”Imraan Khan, Maharaj’s Dolphins team-mate
“From my experience as a wicketkeeper, I had learned a lot about spin, so I tried to mould him that way.”Keshav’s twirling earned him places in a team two age groups above his level and made him a star at Northwood School, the alma mater of Shaun Pollock. By the time he was 18, he had become a regular in the school XI.His father remained his most loyal supporter. “I followed him everywhere and kept a scorebook with his performances. I still have it at home,” Athmanand said.In 2008, despite making it to the provincial Under-19 side, Keshav was not picked in South Africa’s U-19 World Cup squad. He confessed to that he was probably a little on the large side, which may have counted against him.Still, he progressed. He was chosen for the South African academy, given a rookie contract at the Dolphins and was on the fringes of the franchise side. Athmanand allowed his son all the time he needed to see if he could carve a career in cricket because he saw in Keshav “someone with a good head on his shoulders, who is very focused and very determined in everything he does. He knows exactly what he wants and I told him I would support him in that.”But he also advised Keshav to have a plan B. Keshav took up a marketing degree part-time but he honed his plan A. He went to play in the Sussex Premier League in 2013, an adventure that took him away from home comforts and his mother’s kitchen.”I turned my life around. I lost weight and worked on my fitness,” Keshav said.When Keshav returned, Dolphins team-mate Imraan Khan remembers that he looked like a “completely different person”, with a more diligent attitude towards eating. Cooking became a passion for him. He started a food blog and has been part of cooking shows on the local radio station .”He’s a pretty good cook,” Athmanand said.Keshav makes a 19-ball 31 in a tour game against England in 2015•Getty ImagesThe leaner Keshav enjoyed vastly improved results. In the 2014-15 season, he was sixth on the first-class wicket charts with 36 at 29.38. Last season he was seventh with the same number of wickets at 32.Even though there was a slew of spinners on the South African radar – Imran Tahir, Robin Peterson, Dane Piedt, Simon Harmer and Aaron Phangiso – Athmanand felt Keshav was doing too well to be ignored.”There were times when we thought he would get a shot, but with team balance and that kind of thing, we always said that if it came, that would be good and if not, he would just keep doing his thing, because eventually he would get there. Statistics play a very important role.”In the first match of this summer’s first-class season, Athmanand was proved right. Sort of. Keshav got a career-best haul of 13 for 157 to bowl Dolphins to an innings victory over Warriors in East London. But his place in the Test squad had been decided after he took his first wicket in the game.After the second day’s play, with Warriors on 104 for 1 in reply to Dolphins’ 478, in which Keshav had contributed a 71-ball 72, he got a phone call.”It was Linda Zondi [the convener of the national selection panel], and he just told Keshav, ‘Well batted,’ and then said that he needs his passport,” Ahtmanand said. “I told him it might mean he was selected but that he mustn’t jump to any conclusions.”Over the next two days, Keshav ran through the Warriors line-up, taking six more wickets in the first innings and six more in the follow-on. Then he found out he was going to Australia.”He was surprised, but it is also a very well-deserved call-up,” said Imraan. “Over the last few seasons what he has really worked on is consistency in length and that’s what he is so good at. When we have needed a spinner to stop the game, he has done exactly that, but at the same time he has remained an attacking bowler and has always picked up wickets.”South Africa are searching for exactly that kind of spinner, especially in a series where they expect the quicks to dominate. Whether that will give Keshav the edge over Tabraiz Shamsi, a left-arm chinaman and the only other spinner in the squad, remains to be seen.Keshav’s family members are unlikely to travel to Australia to watch the series because of the time it will take to get their visas and Athmanand is busy getting Keshav’s new flat ready for occupation. But regardless of whether he gets the opportunity to watch his son walk out in South Africa colours, Athmanand is ecstatic.”It will be fantastic if he gets his first cap, but even if he doesn’t on this tour, he has made us all very proud. We know his journey begins now.”