Maharaj looks at ways to attack batters in Champions Trophy

With forecasts for flat decks, offering little to no assistance for seamers and spinners, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that SA’s batters are wearing the grin of a Cheshire cat as they traipse around Karachi before the Champions Trophy.

Scores of 300-plus in each of the innings in matches SA have played since arriving in Pakistan two weeks ago, suggest a tournament that will be high on runs and a headache for bowlers.

“They are quite happy with the conditions,” Keshav Maharaj said about SA’s batting group. However, that doesn’t mean they have their feet up by the pool, sipping iced tea.

“They understand that it is not somewhere where you rock up and just score runs. When wickets are in your favour you train harder [because] you want to make the most of the opportunity.

“The guys have been working hard ... there is no sense of complacency on the batting front even though the conditions are deemed to be in their favour,” Maharaj said.

He was quick to outline that training sessions have been intense and that the pre-tournament record of six consecutive ODI defeats was not something that was weighing on the players, because for the most, they haven’t been together as a unit since the World Cup in India in 2023.

Maharaj’s primary focus has been on how to be a threat on surfaces, which offer so little assistance.

Doing so he said would require a similar mindset to what most spinners in SA are accustomed to. “In order to get success it’s about building pressure and limiting the boundary balls in between,” he said.

“It’s not about changing the way that I bowl, it’s about changing the field settings. I’m still trying to bowl my best ball to create an opportunity, but with a more defensive field [like maybe] dropping the slip [earlier].”

Pace and flight are going to be crucial to keep opposing batters honest. “You still want to try to spin the ball, with more revolutions you still create dip and drift.

“I want to play with the overspin and the sidespin and see which one gets more of a reaction.”

He and the rest of the attack aren’t bemoaning their lot in life. Rather they’re relishing the challenge of bowling in conditions that offer nothing.

“Everyone wants to see runs on the board. As a bowler I’m going to be biased and say we want wickets where scores are 250 because that gives us more of a chance,” said Maharaj.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to see the class within the bowling line up. If as cricketers you’re not tested in your chosen skill then you won’t challenge yourself to get batter. When bowlers do come out on top it shows their class and worth.”

SA open their tournament against Afghanistan in Karachi on Friday, and even though conditions aren’t favouring spin, the likes of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad — both well known to the Proteas because of the SA20 — will always create a challenge.

The intrigue for SA is going to be the composition of their attack. If, as they believe, conditions don’t suit spin, it’s unlikely Tabraiz Shamsi will play. That would mean Maharaj as the front-line spinner, with a four man pace attack likely featuring Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada.

The big question for Walter and skipper Temba Bavuma, would be who to select between Corbin Bosch and Lungi Ngidi. Bosch offers something with the bat, but Ngidi, when at his best, provides more variety and control with the ball.