Maharaj shakes off T20I snub with statement white-ball display

If you thought Keshav Maharaj was done trying to make a point about his ability, think again. And watch how he responded to being left out of South Africa's T20 squad.

In his first white-ball game since being overlooked in the shortest format, Maharaj scooped career-best figures of 5 for 33 and his entire haul came in the first 17 overs of Australia's innings. In helpful conditions, Maharaj produced some of his best work: a consistent stump to stump line, clever use of his angles especially from around the wicket and just the right amount of spin to show off his skills. Asked if that performance was good to remind the coaches of what he can do, Maharaj giggled awkwardly but could not hide that he "definitely," enjoyed the statement he made.

"I want to play all three formats, so I was a bit disappointed (to be out of the T20Is). But I think the coaching staff felt a certain way," he said to reporters after the first ODI in Cairns. "It's nice to put in a performance to show that I can do it in the shorter formats of the game. Whatever is meant to be, will be at the end of the day, I'm just focussing on my cricket and enjoying my cricket and I want to try to win games for my country."

The "certain way" head coach Shukri Conrad (who was operating as sole selector but will now choose squads with convenor of selectors Patrick Moroney) felt was that he needed bowlers who could also offer something with the bat. As a result, allrounders George Linde and Senuran Muthusamy made the T20 squad with the understanding that Maharaj does not have the same batting ability, more so recently. Since rupturing his Achilles in 2023, Maharaj has been open about how his batting may have suffered further, because of the work he needed to put into recovering enough to bowl. That doesn't mean he doesn't want to be a better batter, he has just had to prioritise where he puts his focus.

For the last year, that has largely been on the longest format, where he played a key role in South Africa's run to the World Test Championship (WTC) crown. In the 2023-2025 cycle, Maharaj was South Africa's second highest wicket-taker (41 wickets at 20.95) and is also the only South African spinner with more than 200 Test wickets to his name.

Those numbers make it easy to forget what he does with the white ball, so let's remind you. At the 2023 ODI World Cup, he had South Africa's best economy rate of 4.15 and was their third highest wicket-taker. At the 2024 T20 World Cup, he was their joint third-highest wicket-taker and he was in the top five wicket-takers in the SA20 last season, when he led Durban's Super Giants to the final.

It might be that because he has already done all these things, and is now 35 years old that it seems as though Maharaj's career is winding down but he has always rejected that. He previously told ESPNcricinfo, he'd like to consider the age of 40 as the time to step away but was willing to push that further out as long as he was still contributing. His first ODI five-for, which came in his 49th match is proof of what he still has to offer and that he has it in him to keep improving.

"There's a lot more that I want to learn and a lot more for me to sort of achieve in my career, especially with the team. I want to try to win more trophies together as a nation," he said. "Hopefully I can keep raising that bar for spinners coming through in our system. A lot of people ask me what's next? And even though I'm 35 years old, I believe in my journey. I'm always learning. The day I stop learning is the day that I have to walk away from the game. I'd like to think I'm a scholar of the game. I watch a lot of cricket. I'm always bouncing ideas, even from the younger generation. Because it's nice to see how the difference in thinking works. I'd like to think I'm getting better as age goes on."

There's no better a place for Maharaj to have done that than Australia, the country where he made his international debut in the Test side, nine years ago. Then, his rise was a credit to seasons of commitment to fitness and a fine-tuning of his craft and his first match in Perth marked the start of an incredibly successful long-format career. Now, he hopes being back in Australia is a new beginning of sorts as he also tries to re-establish his white-ball credentials amid changes in thinking.

"Australia is the place where I came to debut, so it's a wonderful, nostalgic feeling coming back here and getting my first ODI five-for," he said.

While he celebrated his first four wickets with the usual gusto of screams and prayers for his late grandmother, his fifth - Aaron Hardie, who was bowled - was commemorated in a less demonstrative way. Maharaj eventually bowed to the earth, in his own time, and allowed himself to fully absorb the significance of what he had done.

"I'm not someone who bowls for five-fors. I'm a process-driven person, so I judge myself on my consistency and my length so it was more a sigh of relief to finally tick the box," he said. "You dream of playing international cricket, you dream of putting in match winning performances, and the dreams keep building. But to be able to tick the box of getting a five-for will always be special."

It may also be one of the reasons South Africa turn back to Maharaj when their T20 World Cup planning resumes.