Shaun Pollock labels Keshav Maharaj as the best South African spinner for long time

Former South African skipper Shaun Pollock is very impressed with the way Keshav Maharaj has settled in the South African Test team. He has taken over as the preferred spinner in the lineup and has had decent success in his first couple of outings. He was impressive in the series against New Zealand where he bagged 15 wickets. In the recently concluded series against England, Maharaj bagged 17 wickets.

Needless to say, he had enjoyed success in the first two series that he has been a part of. Shaun Pollock went on to quote that Maharaj is arguably the best spinner that the South African side has had for a long time now. Speaking about the strengths of Maharaj, Pollock conceded that it is the accuracy that makes him a special prospect for the national side.

“I think Keshav Maharaj is as good a spinner as we’ve had in South Africa for a long while. He’s consistent, he’s accurate, he’s getting the ball to spin and he has been a real find for us. We’ve tried three or four different options over a period of four or five years and finally, we’ve been able to settle on someone who has really done well,” quoted Shaun Pollock as per the quotes in Sky Sports.

“His major strength is just his accuracy, he’s played on some surfaces that have offered him assistance but I think the best for him is yet to come. When you take him to the subcontinent on those Indian wickets that are really turning, he’ll be a big handful,” conceded the former South African skipper.

On Duanne Olivier

Another bowler who seemed to have impressed the former captain is Duanne Olivier. Shaun Pollock pointed out that Olivier showed good temperament to bounce back in the England series after having had a poor outing in the Trent Bridge Test. South Africa had to endure a severe drubbing in the Test series against England and ended up losing 3-1. Pollock feels that the bowling unit felt the pressure a little too much.

“I’ve also been very impressed with Duanne Olivier in this match. He struggled at Trent Bridge where he was struggling to control the swing but in this game, we’ve seen a lot of scrambled-seam deliveries from him, he’s tried to hit a good length and be consistent – and he’s been rewarded with the three wickets. It’s been a vast improvement,” Pollock remarked.

“The bowling attack was under a bit of pressure before this match. South Africa came in with just the three seamers and Maharaj to bowl his spin so they’ve had a lot of work to do. It’s been a good effort by all of them and, as I said, a real improvement from Olivier,” he added further.