Keshav Maharaj Celebrates With 'Jai Shri Hanuman' Chant After Hitting Winning Runs To Beat Pakistan In Cricket World Cup 2023

South Africa beat Pakistan by 1 wickets in the 48th over of the match with Keshav Maharaj hitting the winning runs for the Proteas Men, helping them to their fourth straight win of the World Cup.

Keshav Maharaj. (Image: Instagram)

Keshav Maharaj pulled Mohammad Nawaz for four runs on what turned out to be the last ball of the match. That four helped South Africa close out the match in their favour. Maharaj and his batting partner Tabraiz Shamsi celebrated the win as the whole South African camp looked in jubilation. Captain Temba Bavuma was quite animated in the dugout as SA had finally chased down a target successfully in the tournament. 

Maharaj made a post on Instagram after the match that went viral. He celebrated the win over Pakistan by chanting 'Jai Shri Hanuman' in the caption of the post. He shared the pics of his celebration after hitting the winning runs vs Pakistan and wrote, "In God I Trust. what a special result by the boys, awesome to see the performances from @shamsi90 & @aidenmarkram. Jai Shree Hanuman."

Check Maharaj's post below:

Maharaj is a hindu, whose roots are India and plays cricket for South Africa. Upon arrival in India, he has visited many temples in southern regions of the country. He is an ardent believer of Lord Hanuman and it is showing in his post.

Coming to the match, it saw it share of controversy after an umpire's call verdict saved Shamsi in the over before the win. Harif Rauf's ball hit Shamsi on the pad's. The onfield umpire gave it as NOT OUT. Pakistan took the review but the wickets hitting on ball tracker showed 'umpire's call' and Shamsi was saved. The decision has not gone down well with the fans of Pakistan, including former cricketers Wasim Akram and Misbah-ul-Haq. They feel that 'umpire's call' has to be taken out of the DRS. 

It is also true that the same 'umpire's call' had provided a wicket to Pakistan when they dismissed Rassie van der Dussen earlier. It is something that will be debated in the times to come too. 

This was the fourth straight loss to Pakistan after they started off the tournament with two wins. Mathematically, Pakistan have still not been knocked out of the tournament. But there chances hang on how other teams fare. Babar Azam and Co must win their remaining three matches vs Bangladesh, New Zealand and England to ensure they remain in hunt for the playoffs, even if so slightly. 

On the other hand, South Africa have revamped their campaign after a shock loss to Netherlands earlier. Since that defeat, they have won four matches in a row and look set to book the spot in the semis.