Shamsi a world-class bowler, says South African teammate Keshav Maharaj

Oct 08, 2022

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], October 8 : South African spinner Keshav Maharaj on Saturday defended teammate Tabraiz Shamsi over his performance in the 1st ODI against India and called his teammate a world-class bowler who will bounce back strongly.
The bowler who was instrumental in the team's win over India in the 1st ODI at Lucknow said Shamsi would perform well as he did in England where he picked up a five-wicket haul against England.
"He is a world-class bowler. I don't think his confidence is dented. He has done well for us and it's only a matter of time before he repeats his performance like in England and picks a fifer," said Maharaj.
He also said that the bowling figures of Shamsi do not truly reflect the performance of the bowler as he did well to hold his nerve in the back end to make sure the Indian team does not clinch a win.
"I don't think he had a bad day, the bowling figures are not really reflective of it. The Indian batters had to take someone on and unfortunately, it was him. I thought he held his nerve really nicely in the back end and picked up a crucial wicket at the time to give us an opening. We know what he is capable of and it is not a concern for us," said the South African.
The spinner termed India as a difficult team to play against and said that he is looking to rectify the mistakes he made on the last tour to India.
"It's always nice to play well against India. It was a tough tour last time in the T20Is and ODIs for me so I want to rectify that. Just working on a few things and obviously, you want to play against the World's best, a world-class batting lineup in the T20s, I am just trying to repeat good performances in the build to the World Cup," expressed Maharaj.
The South African also complimented the Indian spinners on the skills they possess. He said that he is still learning the trade of tricks of spin bowling and he looks to Indian spinners for inspiration.
"I am still learning when it comes to spin bowling and taking a leaf out of most Indian spinner's books," claimed Maharaj.
Maharaj said that the team is not under pressure for qualifying in the ODI World Cup and said the team is looking to focus on giving good performances and sticking to processes.
"There's always pressure when you play international cricket and especially when you play against a powerhouse like India. We don't focus much on World Cup or the Super League points. We know what we are doing and we have been focusing on putting up good performances and focusing on our processes. Hopefully the rest will take care of themselves," said the spinner.
India will play South Africa in Ranchi for the second ODI in the ongoing three-match ODI Series on Sunday.