No spinner has topped the averages or led the wickets-for in any of the five Test series SA have played in Sri Lanka. But with SA’s fast bowling stocks having taken a hit with Morné Morkel’s retirement and injuries to Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn‚ the slow poisoners might have to shoulder more than their share of the burden when the teams tangle for the sixth time on the Asian island’s slow surfaces in July. Keshav Maharaj‚ that means you. The left-armer has played 20 Tests in SA‚ Australia‚ England‚ New Zealand and Zimbabwe among his 103 first-class matches. But only one of those games has been on the subcontinent: Maharaj took 2/13 and 2/79 in a total of 46.3 overs for SA A against their India counterparts in Kerala in August 2015. So the two Tests SA will play in Sri Lanka loom as both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity of his career so far. If Maharaj brings to the task the calm head and resolute application he has shown to date‚ he will do what is asked of him an...
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