Kenneth Viljoen
International Regular
Harmer is a better spinner than Maharaj in my opinion.
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South Africa team selection
- Thread starter StephenZA
- Start date
Honestly fine margins however agree , i think the question is more left hand or right hand and seeing India and most teams have mostly right handers i would prefer Maharaj .
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
People have been saying that for a long time... and its borne no fruit in the real world. The closest you've got between them is when they both bowled against Bangladesh and then that one Test vs England.
Silver Silva
International Regular
Maharaj has struggled a lot against India
Keshav Maharaj vs India :
8 wickets in 7 tests @ 94.75
Simon Harmer vs India :
10 wickets in 2 Tests @ 25.40
Also Simon Harmer actually has more FC wickets than Ashwin , in fact I don't think there is any cricketer playing the game right now that has more FC wickets than Harmer . He currently has 902 FC wickets, that he only played 10 tests for SA is a big shame.
39 wickets @ 27 but never the main spinner.
Kenneth Viljoen
International Regular
To be honest he kinda has himself to blame for going Kolpak , otherwise he would have been first choice , but with SA Cricket you never know, George Linde did not do a lot wrong performance wise either but got exiled.
Look agree and the stats paint an ugly picture , not a big fan of Maharaj however he has earned that spot to be fair . Myself personally wont give India any look at spinning conditions. However is a tough call .
Socerer 01
International Captain
wasnt Harmer’s 2 tests on that infamous tour where Elgar rolled us over in 1 innings with his golden arm?
Maharaj in contrast had to bowl on some flat pitches when he toured here which no wonder ended up with him getting broken down and at home bowled on very pace friendly surfaces against us
this is an unfair comparison
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
This is why I brought up the recent Bangladesh and Eng games... its the only places you can do an absolute comparison. And overall against Bangladesh Maharaj did better than Harmer, but they both bowled well and did well. In England they did about the same (where you expect Harmer to have a huge advantage with all his FC experience). Every time I`ve seen them bowl together in similar conditions or in tandem nothing has shown Harmer to be that much better or worse than Maharaj.
Silver Silva
International Regular
But still Ashwin and Jadeja picked up 15 & 13 wickets respectively in that series , Maharaj just the 6 ..
This is Maharaj's series performances vs India :
2017/2018 - Home series vs India
2 Tests - 3 wickets @ an average of 125.00
2019/2020 - Away series vs India
2 Tests - 6 wickets @ an average of 85.67
2021/2022 - Home series vs India
2 Tests - 1 wicket @ an average of 119.00
That's not good enough for a specialist bowler no matter the pitch,he has underperformed massively vs India, and his economy rate vs India is 3.89 so hasn't even done a good holding job aswell.
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Thank goodness test against India aren't the only tests that count... and people can have a more open minded an honest view of his role and what he has done for the team.
Socerer 01
International Captain
im not sure if you watched him play in those series because i did and the pitches weren’t doing him any favour. comparing him to atgs in Ashwin and Jadeja is also unfair and only adds to the point, our guys were bowling against their batting which was beyond dire against spin while Maharaj was bowling to excellent players of spin barring Rahane. he wasnt at his best against us but there is a good enough context for it
Silver Silva
International Regular
Sure but you are playing India next hence why I highlight his performances vs India.
Silver Silva
International Regular
He'll still be bowling to excellent players to spin later this month brother, the million dollar question is will he be able to have an impact on the touring side who have dominated him over the years. Even Paul Harris has a better record vs India and he bowled to even greater players of spin. Maharaj has a point to prove vs India .
Kenneth Viljoen
International Regular
Hey boet Maharaj has a 9 wicket haul vs Sri Lanka so he knows a thing or two about taking wickets haha, but yeah that's why I'd want to go horses for courses and select 4 seamers at Centurion. I'll be pissed if Maharaj gets picked and doesn't do the business when all the data on hand suggest he won't at Centurion.
Silver Silva
International Regular
Lol and we still won that series so I was not too upset
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
He's not gonna play Centurion (unless the wicket is really dry) but neither should Harmer... and I think that's the comparison here.
Socerer 01
International Captain
nobody’s arguing for him to be an automatic inclusion at Centurion though it was Harmer vs Maharaj that sparked the conversation in the 1st place
if we end up winning the series it won’t be because Maharaj was picked instead of Harmer unless Maharaj drops sitters in the field
Marius
International Debutant
Rabada is also not in the white-ball squads, think they are genuinely being rested (as much as it pains me to defend Moonda).