Keshav Maharaj eager to pick up Herath's brain

The visiting Sri Lankan team is all set to take on spirited South Africans at home. There is one man in the South African camp – Keshav Maharaj – who is looking up to a legend in the opposition dressing room. As per the recent quotes in ESPNcricinfo, the South African spinner admitted that he looks up to Rangana Herath. He is keen on learning from the wily old spinner of the trade.

Keshav Maharaj mentioned that Rangana Herath and Daniel Vettori are two of his favorite players. “I have always looked up to him. He is one of the left-arm spinners along with Daniel Vettori that you will try and model yourself on, in terms of variations.

“I am looking forward to rubbing shoulders with him and hopefully learning from him. I am still new to the international scene and he has been around for a while so hopefully he can impart some of his knowledge and skill onto me,” quoted Keshav Maharaj.

Keshav recently made his Test debut against Australia down under and is yet to play in Tests at home. He is being guided by South African spinner Paul Harris. Harris rightly suggested him to stick to his strengths. Rangana Herath, the veteran Sri Lankan spinner, is yet to see Keshav Maharaj in action. However, he said that he has a good image of Keshav Maharaj in his mind.

“I have only seen him play against Australia, but from what I’ve seen, he’s a very accurate bowler. He’s got all the essentials – with his accuracy, his line and his lengths. If he improves his variations he’ll go far,” quoted Rangana Herath.

Maharaj remains to be the only frontline spinner in the lineup. He managed to eke out the close competition Tabraiz Shamsi in the South African squad.

Talking about Shamsi, Maharaj mentioned, “We are team-mates at the end of the day, whether he plays or I play, we will be supporting each other. We played a lot of cricket together at the Dolphins and we always want each other to do well.”