South Africa's spinner Keshav Maharaj expresses views on Ram Siya Ram song

South Africa`s leg spinner Keshav Maharaj (Pic: AFP)

Playing devotional music on the cricket field is a very rare sight but when Kehsav Athmanand Maharaj walks into bat, the DJ gets a special request to play one song that is "Ram Siya Ram Jai Jai Ram."

And the DJ receives the request from none other than Keshav Maharaj himself. In the recent ODI series between India and South Africa, Indian wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul prompted Maharaj that, "every time you enter, they play that song."

In the recent test match between India and South Africa in Cape Town, as Maharaj entered the field to bat, Virat Kohli was seen standing with folded hands.

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"It was obviously something I put forward to the media lady and requested that song to be played," Maharaj, the Durban Supergiants skipper in the upcoming SA20, told PTI during an interview.

Lord Ram is the greatest strength of the Durban-born cricketer of Indian origin. "For me, God's been my greatest blessing and if I get an opportunity it's the least I can do and it gets you in the zone and get that respect from other players. Respecting religion and culture is important but it's a nice feeling to hear 'Ram Siya Ram' being played in the background," Maharaj said.

Talking about the second edition of SA20, the skipper is confident that his team will do well."We have a balanced squad, excited to see boys hitting the straps. We saw really good wickets last year," Maharaj said. Will we see him bowling more in the Powerplay?

"It's a case of assessing conditions. If conditions allow me to do that, I will bowl, if not then will assess when to bowl but be a good leader on field and make good decisions tactically. Hopefully, team can feed off that and results will take care of itself," the eloquent Maharaj said.

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At times, Maharaj feels that he is not much celebrated in South Africa as he plays most tests in conditions that do not favour his bowling. In the Newlands test match against India, he did not bowl a single over. The Proteas' left-arm spinner has claimed 158 wickets playing just 50 test matches. He is one of the most effective slow bowlers for South Africa.

"Unfortunately, you live in a world where fast bowlers are highlighted and we have had some amazing greats to have played the game and I am here to do my job and whether I am celebrated or not doesn't really make a difference to me," he calmly replied.

"I want to contribute in a positive way for the team and if the team goes in right way, then I have done my job." Maharaj is still the old school spinner who relies on flight to buy wickets rather than just bowling wicket to wicket stuff.
Where does he get that get that confidence from?

"I trust my preparation and it has been years and years of hard work. The way the game is evolving you also need to evolve your mindset.

"I trust my processes and analysis work that I do but most importantly because of all hard yards I have done and it's not always going to pay off but obviously looks good and it's starting to pay off," he concluded.

(With PTI Inputs)