Keshav Maharaj is number 46!
Keshav Maharaj made history, and boy, did he make it in style!
For some odd reason, Keshav Maharaj has not gotten the recognition due to him as one of the best spinners in South African cricket. Not just in the current set up, where he has just about dominated the scene, but in the history of South African spinners.
This article is brought to you by FRDM - A taste of Africa.
Last night Keshav Maharaj's phone was blowing up.
Friends, family and acquaintances celebrating his Test cricket hattrick, and then the odd journalist looking for a sound bite.
That hattrick is a big deal. Kesh became the 46th bowler - and 14th spinner - to achieve that feat. He is the second South African to take a hattrick, after Geoff Griffin. Geoff Griffin, that's the guy who did one remarkable thing and then disappeared from cricket altogether. Griffin took a hattrick in his second-ever Test, a bowling effort that was marred by accusations of chucking. In fact, he was no-balled 11 times during the match. He was 21 at the time, and maybe a little too passionate because he then retired shortly afterwards because he felt unfairly targeted.
But if we consider the fact the story of South African cricket is divided into two parts, before and after unity; if it is after unity, then he is the first South African to do so. When making this point, most writers choose to put a caveat: “since readmission.” You see, when Griffin played, Keshav Maharaj would not have played for South Africa, no matter how good he was.
But, whichever way you choose to look at it, whether it is the first or second hattrick by a South African, it is still a very big deal. Heck, it has taken some 61 years and 111 potential hattrick deliveries by South African bowlers to get here. And did Kesh get it in style! In a triple-wicket maiden over, in a match where he bagged a 5-wicket haul. It doesn't get any better than this.
Anyway, one of the people who got in touch with Kesh after his hattrick is his friend and coach/analyst, Prasanna Lara. Prasanna has had a tremendous effect on Keshav's career as a cricketer. He is the one who brought South African selectors' attention to Kesh's abilities in 2016 after he saw him bowl in a match simulation in Chatsworth. Prasanna had been watching the then 26-year-old for a while now. The young man was taking wickets left, right and centre.
Back then, the panel had Linda Zondi and Hussain Manack, among others. Prasanna had seen Keshav bowl and was convinced that he was a world-beater. So he launched a bid for him to be given an opportunity. But, this was Keshav Maharaj, the player who for a long time was regarded as more suited for white-ball cricket at KZN Inland.
Like his former teammate at Inland, Tabraiz Shamsi, remarked, “It’s funny how things work out. At Inland, I was considered to be a red ball specialist while Kesh was regarded as the white ball specialist but look at us now. I am the white ball spinner for the Proteas, number 1 in T20 in the world, while Kesh is the best red ball spinner we have.”
So, the selectors needed a bit of convincing.
"I said to Linda Zondi, this guy is a world-beater, please find a way of getting him into the Proteas set up,” says Prasanna. “I think it’s a good thing that I had a good relationship with them and they all trusted me.”
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The selectors did find a way to get him in, and Keshav repaid them by working very hard and breaking records.
Besides the hattrick, his latest achievement, Keshav is the first South African bowler to take 9 wickets in an innings. 2018, Sri Lanka. He was actually going for 10 wickets in an innings. He wanted to join the esteemed company of Jim Laker and Anil Kumble. He failed by a single wicket and created his own category: bowlers who have taken 9 wickets in an innings.
"In 2018, after the Proteas spin camp in India, Keshav and Shamsi did not fly home with the rest of the squad," says Prasanna. "They came and stayed at my home for 5 days and asked me to help them further prepare for the tour of Sri Lanka."
Prasanna had the guys at RX Cricket Academy in Bangalore prepare a pitch that is similar to the ones in Sri Lanka, and they worked for six hours a day - three hours in the morning and three hours late afternoon. In between, they chilled and would watch videos - of cricket.
You see, Keshav Maharaj is a believer in deliberate practice or deep practice. That is, he believes in working on a technique with constant critical feedback, and focused on ruthlessly shoring up weaknesses.
"He is often hard on himself," smiles Prasanna.
Brady Barends, one of the players that Kesh school-age cricket, and also played with at the Dolphins Academy has memories of a Keshav Maharaj who had an extremely high work rate and always sought advice and feedback from people around him.
“Kesh had the talent, obviously,” says Barends, “but he wasn’t one of those guys whom you would have pegged to make it as a professional cricketer. At the Academy he was like a third or fourth choice, no one thought he was going to make it. But his commitment and dedication to improvement were on a different level. This guy did not stop bowling, he was always bowling and bowling. He worked harder than anyone else in our bowling unit. And that was the difference. He was a bang average cricketer who transformed into a world-class bowler.”
P Dogg, as Prasanna is affectionately known, is like a proud father watching his son conquer the world, and even then, refusing to relax. The two share a special bond. I suppose it is typical of Prasanna Lara, his relationship with Dale Steyn is one of the most awesome things to witness on Twitter. He has these lasting bonds with the players he works with. It says so much about Prasanna, and also speaks a lot about Keshav himself. He is humble, always ready to learn, and pays attention when he is reprimanded.
And Prasanna has given Kesh quite a few mouthfuls after Kesh has made “a silly mistake.” One of those incidences was in Pune when Kesh was dismissed for 76 when he was pushing for his first-ever Test century. Prasanna did not hold back in that instance. And Kesh, who has always harboured ambitions of being an allrounder, took in the harsh words and immediately went to work on his batting.
Prasanna describes him as a beast when it comes to putting the required work into his craft. Prasanna and Kesh created a blueprint, outlining the best points for Keshav to pay attention to if he wants to get the best out of himself as a bowler. It strips down the mechanics of his action to bits, and he works on them individually.
"You know, after he took the 9 wickets in Sri Lanka, the first thing he said to me after we had settled down was: Are you happy with my technique? Is my loading point right? Is my release point right? Is my pivot right? Am I undercutting the ball? Am I getting the right drift?" Prasanna remembers. "There are two players that I have worked with who come for more feedback after doing well. Hashim Amla is the other one. After getting his triple-century at Lord's, he came to me to ask whether he was doing things the right way."
But, Kesh is not just a technical bowler, he is also a smart bowler. I suppose one has to be a thinking bowler if they are to be successful as a spinner on South African surfaces. He has an understanding of Vaslav Nijinsky’s quote, “Technique is freedom.” He knows that to be adaptable he needs to get the basics in place. Because without them, he will not achieve the flexibility required to succeed as a bowler. You see, it is very difficult to be consistent, to replicate what brings success and to be truly innovative if your technique is not on point because you will just be winging your way through situations.
Anyway, after Kesh received Prasanna’s congratulatory message, he did not miss a beat and responded, "I will be happy after I get my second Test hattrick."
Prasanna was not surprised by Keshav's response, it is typical of Kesh. He hasn’t gotten to his destination yet, he is still hungry for more success.
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