‘It's been my dream’ – South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj aspires to lift the World Cup as captain

Keshav Maharaj, the South African left-arm spinner, put forth his dreams of captaining the national side in the future. The tweaker was appointed as Dolphins’ skipper in their domestic One-Day Cup campaign this year. To add to his delight, the Dolphins were crowned as champions after Cricket South Africa (CSA) suspended cricket due to the massive coronavirus outbreak.

However, now the 30-year-old wishes to lead the Proteas to glory in the World Cup. Quinton de Kock was earlier given the captaincy mantle in ODI and T20I cricket. But after Faf du Plessis resigned from Test cricket following a rough outing against England, the position in the longer format is still open.

“I’ve really enjoyed captaincy from the time I’ve been handed the opportunity this past season. I really want to captain the Proteas. It’s been my dream. Not a lot of people in the national setup actually know that, but the few who have approached me on the matter know that,” Maharaj was quoted as saying in sport24.

Lifting that silverware has been my childhood dream: Keshav Maharaj

The CSA has recently made it clear that De Kock won’t be picked as the Test skipper. Hence, chance of Maharaj getting the leadership can’t completely be ruled out. With no cricket going around, the CSA seems to have adequate time to pick a skipper.

“I’d like to captain the South African team across all three formats and I want to raise a World Cup trophy with my own hands, as the leader of the side. I didn’t merely want to play for the Proteas. Lifting that silverware has always been my childhood dream,” he stated.

Though he has done well in Tests, the Durban-born has strained a bit in ODI cricket. From May 2017 to March 2020, he has played only seven ODIs, picking up as many wickets. He was a part of the Proteas’ squad in the series against Australia.

“I specifically asked what I needed to do to get back into the ODI side and was told that I need to work on my batting and stuff. So, I went back and was fortunate enough to be the captain, which helped me gain some responsibility. I also got a few scores and wickets,” Maharaj added.