“Every series is an important one. No series can be taken lightly,” said South Africa’s stand-in skipper, Keshav Maharaj, ahead of South Africa’s three-match series against the Netherlands. 

Although many of South Africa’s first choice players have been rested for the series, Maharaj understands the importance of winning this series, given that South Africa still need to qualify for the 2023 50-over World Cup in India.

“As much as we’ve rested our regular players, we’re going to maximize the points we get from the series.” 

Despite South Africa’s recent success in T20 cricket, Maharaj conceded, “Our progress (in 50-over cricket) has been a bit slow.” However, Maharaj is still confident of being the team South Africa want to be.

“Come 2023, we’ll be the polished article we want to be.” Maharaj explained, “There are combinations we want to try. We’re building towards the bigger picture at the end of the day. There is a method to our madness at times in building towards the 2023 World Cup.”

Maharaj began his career as a white-ball bowler, after which he transitioned to the red-ball arena when he made his Test debut. It was only recently that he has returned to the white-ball plans as a regular. “Bouch (Mark Boucher) gave me various aspects of my game to work. I’m the type of person who likes to prove people wrong. I worked really hard and luckily, it has paid dividends in the other two formats of the game.” 

Maharaj’s ascent to a leadership role, and his subsequent success as a stand-in captain, has been pleasantly surprising to witness. Maharaj enjoys the role.

“I’m a deep thinker, it helps me on the field. It also helps my game, keeps me calm. I’m very happy to be handed the opportunity. I have a lot of pride in what I do. I give off my best when I get the chance to lead.”