Zaahier Adams
Proteas left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has been nominated for the ICC Player of the Month award.
Maharaj, who also claimed the Proteas’ Players Player of the Year prize at the CSA Awards in Midrand, is in line for a second Player of the Month award after having won in April 2022.
The World’s No 1 ranked ODI bowler returned to Test cricket with aplomb last month when he claimed 13 wickets in the two-match series against the West Indies, where he unsurprisingly won the Player of the Series award.
The performance was critical to the Proteas maintaining their unbeaten record in Test series constituting more than one match against the West Indies.
He grabbed four wickets in each innings of the drawn Test in Port of Spain, which included three of the top four batters in the first innings and four of the top five in the second. He chipped in with five scalps in the second Test in Guyana that his side won by 40 runs.
Maharaj is up against West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales and Sri Lanka all-rounder Dunith Wellalage.
Seales claimed 12 wickets in the series against the Proteas, including nine in Guyana that helped him attain a career-best 13th position in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings and become the top-ranked bowler in the format from the West Indies.
Wellalage, meanwhile, made it to the men’s shortlist for his performances in ODIs. The left-hander was Player of the Series in his side’s 2-0 series win over India with scores of 67 not out, 39 and two. He also finished with seven wickets, including a haul of 5/27 in the third match.