Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn has heaped praise on his compatriot Keshav Maharaj following the latter's latest IPL contract announcement with Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Maharaj, who arrived in India earlier to train with the Lucknow Super Giants players during the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was left pleasantly surprised after the winners of the inaugural edition of the IPL, Rajasthan offered him a contract and welcomed him on board as Prasidh Krishna's replacement.
Maharaj's former South Africa teammate Steyn took to 'X' and congratulated him for his "well-deserved" contract.
"I’m often a little late in my tweets but Keshav Maharaj getting called up to the IPL is incredible well deserved. In a country rich with spinners, to acquire an overseas finger spinner just shows what a quality player he is! Well done Kesh!" posted Steyn.
Steyn, who was associated with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the previous season as their bowling coach decided not to make himself available for the 17th edition of the tournament.
Notably, Maharaj is one of the best finger spinners going around in world cricket at the moment. The captain of Durban's Super Giants claimed 15 scalps during the second season of SA20 earlier this year. He was his team's leading wicket-taker and took his side to the summit clash of the season.
With the wickets expected to be slower during the course of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA, Maharaj is expected to play a crucial role for the Proteas.
Rajasthan Royals IPL 2024 squad:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Shubham Dubey, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Keshav Maharaj, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore.
