Keshav Maharaj

Some Lesser Known Facts About Keshav Maharaj

• Keshav Maharaj is a South African cricketer of Indian origin who has become popular for his spin performance in various tournaments. His fans also praise him for following Hindu practices despite living in South Africa.

• Keshav was born into a family of cricketers with roots in Sultanpore, Uttar Pradesh, India. His great-great-grandfather first landed in Durban on 1 September 1874 with a group of Indian labourers, to work under the then-racist South African government in the farm, sugar, cotton, tea and rail sector.

  

• Keshav started playing cricket at the tender age of 2 and was coached by his father, Athmanand, who used to play as a wicketkeeper-batsman for the Natal province and also worked as the deputy director general of sport in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province. He was later shortlisted for the Bakers Mini-Cricket programme, a developmental program for primary school kids, where he played as a left-arm pace bowler.

  

• He was initially a left-arm seam bowler but turned into a spin bowler at the request of his father. His father recognised his ability to turn the ball after seeing him try spin bowling on a synthetic football ground.

• His father was familiar with the Indian and Pakistani cricketers including the likes of Pravin Amre and Kiran More. When Keshav was twelve, he sharpened his bowling talent by bowling to these cricketers in the nets.

  

• On 2 November 2006, he played his first-class debut match for KwaZulu-Natal against Kei; he took 1 wicket for 16 runs in the first innings and 4 wickets for 84 runs in the second innings. On 5 November 2006, he made his debut in List A (one-day)  for KwaZulu-Natal against Kei and took 3 wickets for 22 runs. On 7 February 2010, he debuted in T20 for the Dolphins against the Warriors and took 1 wicket for 29 runs.

  

• Keshav was not selected for the South Africa Under-19 team due to fitness issues; however, he worked hard on his fitness and later represented South Africa A during their 2010 tour to Bangladesh.

  

• On his return from the Sussex Premier League in 2013, he transformed into a completely different bowler. He represented Cuckfield in the 2013 Sussex Premier League and Nelson in the 2015 Lancashire League. He represented Lancashire in the 2018 County Championship and Yorkshire in 2019.

  

• He made his Test debut by replacing an injured Dale Steyn against Australia at the WACA, Perth, which is known to be an unfriendly pitch for spinners, but despite that, he scored 16 runs and took 3 wickets for 56 runs in the first innings and scored 41 runs and took 1 wicket for 94 runs in the second innings.

• He claimed his first 5-wicket haul by taking 5 wickets in the first innings against New Zealand in March 2017. During the match against Sri Lanka in July 2018, he took 9 wickets for 129 runs in the first innings and 3 wickets for 153 runs in the second innings, achieving his first 10-wicket haul in a test match. He made his first test fifty in October 2019 by scoring 72 runs in the first innings against India.

  

• Keshav Maharaj started dating Lerisha Munsamy after a common friend introduced them to each other in 2018. Keshav proposed to her on 28 July 2018 after dating for around 5 and a half months which she accepted and became his girlfriend. Lerisha and Keshav kept their relationship a secret and did not tell their families about it; however, he planned a Kathak dance performance with her on his mother’s 50th birthday which she liked and gave her consent for their relationship and marriage.

  

• He played 5 matches in the 2021 T20I World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and took 8 wickets for 155 runs with the best bowling figures of 3 wickets for 20 runs against Bangladesh. During the 2022 T20I World Cup held in Australia, he played 4 matches and took 3 wickets for 89 runs with the best bowling figures of 2 wickets for 27 runs against the Netherlands.

  

• In September 2021, he became the ODI captain for the series against Sri Lanka and later captained the T20I team of South Africa during the T20 series against Sri Lanka. During the 2023 ODI World Cup, he served as the vice-captain of South Africa.

• He took his first 4-wicket haul on 17 September 2023 by dismissing 4 batsmen for 33 runs against Australia.

• In the 2022 and 2023 editions of the SA20 League, he played for the Durban Super Giants, and for the 2024 season, he was appointed as the captain of the team.

  

• Apart from being a cricketer, he is a fine cook, runs a food blog and has been associated with cooking shows on the local radio station.

  

• In October 2023, a picture of Keshav Maharaj during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup gained widespread attention on the internet. In the image, he was seen holding a cricket bat with the ‘Om’ (ॐ) symbol, which garnered numerous positive comments. Many praised him as a proud Hindu who was born in India and represented another nation in cricket. He also thumped his chest multiple times after he hit a four against Pakistan and won the match for South Africa.

• Keshav’s father, Athmanand, revealed in an interview that he also came to India to study and take cricket training; however, he returned to South Africa as he did not mix well with the people.

  

• Kiran More, the former Indian cricketer, predicted that Keshav would become an international cricketer after seeing Keshav’s hand when he was only three years old. After Keshav played his first international match, his father sent an SMS to More in which he wrote that More’s prediction came true. More replied that he made that prediction due to Keshav’s running between the wickets and bat holding grip.

  

• His name was up for grabs during the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction of the 2023 season for a base price of Rs 50 lakhs; however, he was not acquired by any team. ^[4]India Today

• He likes to play golf whenever he is not playing cricket.

  

• He often does charity activities for poor people, in partnership with the Hollywood Foundation.