Maharaj’s Proteas World Cup hopes hanging by a thread

It was already well apparent but Proteas captain Temba Bavuma admitted that it was a disappointing turn of events that spin maestro Keshav Maharaj would likely be unavailable for the team when they battle it out in the ICC ODI World Cup in India in October and November.

Although we may be getting ahead of ourselves that the Proteas will even make it, as their direct qualification is currently up in the air.

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The Proteas still need to pick up two wins against the Netherlands in their rescheduled ODI series at the end of the month and hope that New Zealand whitewashes Sri Lanka in their ODI series, which would allow the South African side to sneak in automatically.

If that doesn’t happen they will have to battle it out in the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe in June and July, and although the Proteas will be expected to cruise through that, they were also expected to qualify automatically, so anything can happen.

Whatever ends up happening, it is unlikely that Maharaj will be a part of it after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in a freak accident celebrating a wicket against the West Indies in the second Test this past weekend.

Maharaj is set to go under the knife on Friday to repair the damage, after which an estimated time of recovery will likely be announced.

“That was quite tough and, in seeing Keshav sitting in his spot with the moon boot and crutches, we were trying to celebrate the moment of winning the match and the series, but also knowing that one of our main players will be out for quite a while,” said Bavuma ahead of the start of the ODI series against the Windies in East London on Thursday.

Tough emotionally

“It was tough for us emotionally, but Kesh is a strong character and will bounce back better than what the surgery diagnosis will be.When it happened on the field, I was probably the closest person to Keshav and I honestly don’t know what happened.

“I saw him try to celebrate and he fell, but I didn’t think too much of it to be honest, but when one of the players tried to hold his foot, it was the way that it was.”

Bavuma continued: “We’re not sure when he will be back, but I think he also understands that life goes on and the decision-makers within the team will know whom they’ll need to consider.”

“Kesh would have been a big player for us going into the 50-over World Cup, but that opens up an opportunity for someone else. What’s happened to Kesh is quite sad though.”

Tabraiz Shamsi, who wasn’t part of the Proteas ODI squad to play the Windies, has been added after the injury to Maharaj, while Bjorn Fortuin was a part of a media conference earlier in the week, which indicates he is likely to play and may get a chance to impress the selectors.