Devotional music at a cricket ground is rare, but when Keshav Athmanand Maharaj enters, the DJ gets a special request, 'Ram Siya Ram Jai Jai Ram.'
The South African left-arm spinner himself prompts India skipper KL Rahul to ask, 'Every time you enter, they play that song' during the recent ODI series in South Africa.
In the Cape Town Test, as Maharaj entered to bat, Virat Kohli was seen standing with folded hands. "It was something I put forward to the media lady and requested that song be played," said Maharaj, the Durban Supergiants skipper in the upcoming SA20.
For Maharaj, the Durban-born cricketer of Indian origin, Lord Ram is his greatest strength.
"God has been my greatest blessing, and if I get an opportunity, it's the least I can do. It gets me in the zone and earns respect from other players. Respecting religion and culture is important, but it's a nice feeling to hear 'Ram Siya Ram' in the background," Maharaj said.
Talking about the second edition of SA20, the skipper is confident that his team would 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, I will bowl. If not, I will assess when to bowl but be a good leader on the field and make good decisions tactically. Hopefully, the team can feed off that, and results will take care of itself," Maharaj said.
With 158 wickets from 50 Tests, Maharaj is perhaps the most effective slow bowler that Proteas have had since the end of apartheid. Does he at times feel that he isn't celebrated enough in South Africa as he plays most Tests in conditions that don't suit his bowling? A case in point, he didn't get a single over in the Newlands Test against India.
"Unfortunately, you live in a world where fast bowlers are highlighted, and we have had some amazing greats who have played the game. I am here to do my job, and whether I am celebrated or not doesn't make a difference to me," he calmly replied.
"I want to contribute positively to the team. If the team goes in the 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 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 the hard yards I have done. It's not always going to pay off, but it looks good and it's starting to pay off," he concluded.
