Champions Trophy: Keshav Maharaj assures SA bowlers ready to take on Pakistan's flat tracks

Karachi [Pakistan], February 19 (ANI): Keshav Maharaj laid out South Africa's bowlers' intention of testing themselves against Pakistan's batting-friendly conditions in the Champions Trophy.
He went on to assure that the Proteas batters do not feel complacent about the friendly surfaces before taking the crease against Afghanistan on Friday in Karachi.
Pakistan has been the home for the highest batting average in ODIs (35.53) since 2021. A week before the tournament, the ODI tri-nation series made the stat more evident, with five out of eight totals going past the 300-run mark, including Pakistan's record chase.
South African batters who love to play on surfaces where the ball effortlessly comes to bat will be licking their lips at the possibility of hitting the big scores. Maharaj admitted that the batters were quite happy with the conditions while knowing that scoring runs wouldn't be a walk in the park.
"They're quite happy with the conditions, but they understand that it's not just rock up and score runs. It's still a process and method. When wickets are in your favour, you train that much harder because you want to make the most of the opportunity that you're presented with," Maharaj said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"I don't think there's any sense of complacency even though conditions are deemed to be in the batters' favour. You're going to see a supercharged outfit," he added.
While looking at the perspective of bowlers, the task of containing the batters becomes a tricky affair. Considering the mounting task ahead, South Africa's premier spinner believes his compatriots are up for it.
"It's a wonderful opportunity to see the class within our bowling line-up stand up and sort of defend these scores. Although the totals might seem high in the context of cricket, it's probably on par to get 320 these days when batting first and chasing it down in the 44th or 46th over," he said.
"It's a nice test. As cricketers, if you're not tested in your chosen skill, then you're not going to challenge yourself to get better. I think it's a wonderful advert to see the high scores, and when the bowler does come out on the right side of things, it shows his class and worth within the team and the world line-up," he added.
While assessing the pitch, Maharaj expects to play a more containing role on Pakistan surfaces, with pacers possibly leading the attack from the front.
"In order to get success, it's about building pressure and just limiting the boundary balls in between. It's probably more of that holding role that one's accustomed to seeing in South Africa. It's not about changing the way I bowl, it's just about changing the field sets that we have. I'm still trying to bowl my best ball to create opportunity, but with probably a more defensive type of field, maybe not carrying a slip for so long. That's basically the sort of mindset." he added. (ANI)