“I’ll bowl the whole day if I need to” – Keshav Maharaj opens up on his passion for spin bowling

South African veteran spinner Keshav Maharaj has opened up on his passion for spin bowling. Maharaj said he could bowl the whole day if he needs to. The left-arm orthodox spinner bagged eight wickets in the first Test match against the West Indies, which ended in a draw at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Maharaj returned with figures of 4-76 in the first innings and then registered 4-88 in the second dig while opening the innings. The Proteas dominated the Test match as they took a lead of 124 runs after the first innings but the match ended in a stalemate.

Keshav Maharaj said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, “My passion is spin bowling. I love it. I can wake up at two o’clock in the morning and if you ask me to bowl, I’ll bowl. That keeps me motivated. And also, the desire to want to do well for the team and take this team into a different direction, I’ll bowl the whole day if I need to.

“Whatever format I play, I always keep my workloads as if I’m preparing for Test cricket. The only thing that changes is your lengths and sometimes your lines a little bit, but from a longevity point of view, I still bowl my long hours, regardless of whether it’s T20 or fifty-over cricket.”

Maharaj said draws don’t count for much as they had to share the points with the West Indies in the World Test Championship. 

“It’s obviously disappointing not to get a result. We’re always going to play cricket to ensure that we can give ourselves the best chance, even if that process dangles the carrot with the prospect of losing a game. Draws don’t count for much. We obviously know there’s a World Test Championship at stake, but we’re focusing on each and every game,” he said via ESPN Cricinfo.

Maharaj has scalped 166 wickets in 51 Test matches at an average of 31.44 and he is South Africa’s leading spinner in the red-ball format.

The second Test match will be played at the Providence Stadium, Guyana from Thursday onwards.