Follow UsSouth Africa stand-in skipper Keshav Maharaj is keen to make use of his opportunity and do something special as they kickstart their tour of England with the first ODI at the Riverside Stadium, Durham.
South Africa do not have a good record in England given that their only bilateral series win in limited-overs cricket came in 1998. Maharaj hopes to create history as he is set to lead South Africa in the absence of the injured Temba Bavuma.
“It does present an opportunity to do something special,” Maharaj said ahead of the first ODI.
“We’ve come a long way as a team and as a unit. So it is an opportunity to create history, but we’ll take it one ball at a time and hopefully achieve something really big as the ODI unit.”
South Africa in the last 12 months blanked India 3-0 at home but suffered losses at the hands of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. South Africa have however introduced many new players as they look to build towards the 2023 World Cup.
“We haven’t done relatively well in the ODI format, but we’ve tried various formats and combinations, so hopefully we’ve found that rhythm to our game now when we can start off on a positive note come this England series,” Maharaj told the media on Monday (July 18).
“Obviously England have come off quite a bit of cricket and they’re pretty much a more settled team. But having put in the hard work over the past 12 months, I think it’s about time we see some good results come this series and moving forward.”
The Proteas last played an ODI in March and Maharaj insists that his side are excited to play the 50-over format again.
“The boys are really excited, it’s been a while since we’ve played our last ODI game and it’s been a substantial and lengthy build-up to the game, so the boys are ready to get onto the park, so come tomorrow and hit the ball running,” he said.
“Results haven’t really gone our way, but it’s a nice way to build that confidence and filter in towards ODI cricket up until the World Cup next year.”
Maharaj is not reading too much into England's aggressive brand of batting. He says he will be pleased as long as his side execute their plans successfully.
“It’s all about doing the basics correctly and following our own game plan," Maharaj said.
“We just need to make sure we execute our plans right, adapt to conditions on the day and hopefully the rest will take care of itself. It’s one thing we have been good at and hopefully we can replicate much of that in this series and going forward.”
In other news, Quinton de Kock, who missed the warm-up game as a precaution will be available for the first ODI.