Keshav Athmanand Maharaj was born on 7 February 1990. His full name is Keshav Athmanand Maharaj. He is a South African professional cricketer who represents his country in Test and One-Day International matches.
In 2006, he made his first-class debut, and in November 2015, he made his Test debut. He is a lower-order batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler. In domestic cricket, he represents KwaZulu-Natal and the Dolphins. Maharaj became only the second South African bowler to take a hat-trick in a Test match in June 2021.
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Keshav Maharaj – Domestic Career
Keshav Maharaj was born in Durban native, made his first-class debut for KwaZulu-Natal at the age of 16 in 2006-07. In 2009-10, he was elevated to the Dolphins’ team. In April–May 2010, he toured Bangladesh with the South Africa Academy and took 13 wickets in two four-day matches against the Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy.
In one of the T20 matches, he opened the bowling and took 4 for 12 off four overs. In 2010-11, he played for South Africa A against a visiting Bangladesh A squad.
His best batting season to date was 2012-13, when he scored 481 first-class runs at a 48.10 average, including two hundred. He hit 114 not out off 119 balls for KwaZulu-Natal against Northerns and finished the match with 5 for 12.
He had his best innings and match numbers to that point for Dolphins against Cape Cobras in 2014-15: 6 for 58 and 10 for 145. The Dolphins triumphed, and he was named Man of the Match. With 44 first-class wickets at an average of 26.18, he concluded the season with 44 first-class wickets.
In 2013, he was a professional for Cuckfield in the Sussex Premier League, and in 2015, he was a professional for Nelson in the Lancashire League. He was selected for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup by the KwaZulu-Natal cricket side.
He scored 72 in the Dolphins’ first match of the 2016-17 season against the Warriors, then took 7 for 89 and 6 for 68 in the Dolphins’ innings triumph, the first time he has taken seven wickets in an innings or 13 in a match.
He was picked to Durban Heat’s squad for the inaugural Mzansi Super League T20 event in October 2018. He made five appearances for Yorkshire in the 2019 County Championship, taking 38 wickets at an average of 18.92 as the team finished fifth.
He was picked to the Durban Heat roster for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament in September 2019. He was picked to KwaZulu-squad Natal’s in April 2021, ahead of the South African cricket season 2021–22.
Keshav Maharaj – International Career
He was named in South Africa’s team for their series against Australia in October 2016. On 3 November 2016, he made his Test debut against Australia, and by taking up three critical wickets in the first innings, he played a key role in the Australian batting collapse.
The Perth, he was the first specialist spinner to play in a Test match. He took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket against New Zealand on March 10, 2017.
In Tests against New Zealand, this is only the seventh five-for by a South African spinner. In April 2017, he was picked to South Africa’s One Day International (ODI) team for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and a series against England.
On May 27, 2017, he made his ODI debut for South Africa against England. At Cricket South Africa’s annual awards in May 2017, he was voted International Newcomer of the Year. During the first Test against Bangladesh in October 2017, he claimed his 50th Test wicket.
He had his greatest Test bowling figures in an innings of 9 for 124 in July 2018, during the second Test match against Sri Lanka, and he also had the best bowling figures in a Test innings by a visiting bowler in Sri Lanka. He also holds the record for the best bowling numbers by a South African in an Asian Test inning.
His 9 for 124 is the second-highest Test bowling figure by a South African after Hugh Tayfield, and the best Test bowling figures by a South African since his readmission to international cricket in 1991. After Rangana Herath, he became the second left-arm spinner to take 9 wickets in test innings.
He was named in South Africa’s Twenty20 International (T20I) team for a one-off match against Sri Lanka in August 2018, however, he did not participate. Maharaj took his 100th wicket in Test cricket in October 2019, during a series against India.
Maharaj was picked in South Africa’s team for the limited-overs series against England in November 2020. On the fourth day of the second Test match of South Africa’s tour of the West Indies, Keshav Maharaj took South Africa’s second-ever Test hat-trick and the first since Geoff Griffin at Lord’s in 1960.
Keshav Maharaj was a South African professional cricketer and He represents his country in Test and one-day international matches. At the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium at Gros Islet, Keshav Maharaj became only the second South African to score a hat-trick in Test cricket, putting South Africa in sight of a series win series against the West Indies.
Maharaj joined Geoff Griffin on the elite list after taking the wickets of Kieron Powell, Jason Holder, and Joshua Da Silva on day four of the West Indies vs South Africa 2nd Test.
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