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"There's a real hunger to...": Keshav Maharaj issues strict warning for India ahead of 1st Test

Soumyajit Dutta

Keshav Maharaj [Source: AFP Photos]Keshav Maharaj [Source: AFP Photos]


South Africa's star spinner Keshav Maharaj thinks beating India at home will be a great challenge to grade themselves. The WTC 2025 winners will be aiming to beat the Men in Blue in a Test series away from home after 15 long years, and Maharaj thinks this is one of their greatest and toughest assignments yet in recent years.

South Africa's last test series victory against India came back in 2010 with the likes of Proteas greats like Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis. With the two-match Test series starting from November 14, Maharaj aims to secure another away win against India after their recent WTC heroics.

Keshav Maharaj declares India as 'toughest tour'

Speaking to ICC, Maharaj issued a stern warning to India, declaring that he is confident in his team to go against the tide and beat India in this series. 

"It's probably one of the toughest tours, if not the toughest tour in the Proteas calendar through various generations that have come. There's a real hunger and desire within the camp to obviously beat India in India," Maharaj said.

Maharaj then stressed the importance of the India Tests as he established how it is one of their biggest review unit after conquering most parts of the subcontinent.

"As a unit, we feel like it's one of our biggest tests. It will be a wonderful opportunity to grade ourselves, to see how far we've come. Slowly but surely, we started to conquer other parts of the sub-continent. And I feel like this is one assignment that we really, really want to take," Maharaj added.

Maharaj on expected pitch for India Tests

Keshav Maharaj also shared his opinion on the pitch type the Proteas unit is expecting to play in India, and Maharaj drew inspiration from the West Indies Tests that took place in October.

"I think it will be good wickets that deteriorate as the game goes on. I think if you watched a bit of the West Indies series, now that India played against West Indies at home, it was good wickets that went, you know, almost to day four and five," Maharaj noted.

Maharaj's intention with the wickets somewhat stands true as the first Test at Eden Gardens aims to build a seamer-friendly pitch at least for the first three days with minimal spin movement. Spinners might get purchase though in the latter half of the contest.