Keshav Maharaj is a solid defensive bowler who bowls in tight areas and has bowling smarts, as visible last night.
A former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has expressed his desire to see Keshav Maharaj get a gig during the IPL 2025 auction. He was full of praise for Maharaj’s craft on air during the third T20I between South Africa and India in Centurion last night.
Robin Uthappa, who has played for a few franchises, including CSK, during his IPL career, has suggested IPL scouts keep an eye on Maharaj, South Africa’s premium spinner in white-ball formats for years. Uthappa feels IPL scouts would fail if Maharaj doesn’t land up in any IPL team in the next edition.
“If Keshav Maharaj doesn’t get an IPL gig, then IPL’s scouts have failed,” stated Uthappa on air during the 3rd T20I last night.
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Amidst the carnage by the Indian batters last night, Maharaj bowled a decent spell, snaring two wickets and conceding 36 runs in his four overs. He took big guns down, including a well-set Abhishek Sharma, who scored 50 runs, and Hardik Pandya, who made 18 runs.
If we talk about his IPL experience, Keshav Maharaj has featured for Rajasthan Royals (RR) last season, where he came as a replacement player. The franchise bought him at a base price of INR 50 Lakhs as a replacement for Prasidh Krishna, who underwent surgery on his left proximal quadriceps tendon and was unavailable to play.
Maharaj soon made his IPL debut and played two matches for the Royals in the 2024 season, picking two wickets at an average of 19.50. His economy rate was a brilliant 6.50 in those two matches as he bowled as many as six overs.
Earlier in the same season, Maharaj was with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as a net bowler before being roped in by the Royals. Overall, Maharaj has 38 wickets at 24.73 runs apiece in 38 T20I innings for South Africa.
He is a solid defensive bowler who bowls in tight areas and has bowling smarts, as visible last night. Generally, teams don’t prefer having defensive overseas spinners in their IPL XI, but Maharaj’s recent rise might tempt a few sides to go after him during the auction.
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