On Friday, Pakistan took on South Africa in their sixth match of the 2023 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
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Pakistan scored 270 batting first, thanks to fifties from Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel, supplemented by some good lower-order batting from Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz. In reply, South Africa's chase seemed to be on track, before Aiden Markram was dismissed to leave them 7 wickets down.
In a nervy ending, last-wicket pair Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi took South Africa over the line, with Maharaj hitting the winning runs by steering Mohammaz Nawaz behind square leg for four.
Who is Keshav Maharaj?
Maharaj has caught the eye of Indian viewers ever since his emergence on the international scene, with his name seeming to suggest some Indian heritage.
Keshav Maharaj In Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple pic.twitter.com/tG5W7H95iZ
— indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) October 27, 2023
A 2018 story by the Mumbai Mirror revealed that the Maharaj family were indeed from India, and Keshav's forefathers had arrived in South Africa from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh as indentured labourers, as early as 1874.
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Keshav's father, Athmanand Maharaj, was also a professional cricketer, having represented the Kwazulu-Natal province in South Africa. Interestingly, the Maharaj family was also well-known to former India wicketkeeper Kiran More, who predicted a bright future for the boy when he was just three years old.
Athmanand said in the same interview,
We're the fifth or sixth generation Indians and one of my possessions is the certificate of origin. When I went down to India to study, I needed this certificate. That was how I could trace back my origins and family history. The stay in India (Mysore) was not very happy, so I came back. I took up physical education and taught in schools.
Keshav has represented South Africa in all three formats of the game, making his international debut during a Test match in Perth against Australia in November 2016. He has taken a total of 224 wickets across formats, with most of them (158) coming in the Test whites. He also has 2 centuries at the domestic first-class level.
Who will win the 2023 World Cup?
India, Australia and South Africa are among the top five favourites for the 2023 World Cup title. The odds from Dafabet are as follows:
| Team | Odds (Dafabet) |
|---|---|
| India | 2.15 |
| Australia | 5.00 |
| South Africa | 4.75 |
| New Zealand | 7.00 |
| Pakistan | 29.00 |
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