Bavuma fears the worst for Maharaj's World Cup hopes as spinner's surgery looms

At Buffalo Park, East London

Proteas Test and ODI skipper Temba Bavuma said Keshav Maharaj's freak injury was too much for him to look at after he realised the severity of the spinner's Achilles tendon rupture last week.

Maharaj ruptured the body's strongest tendon when he began to celebrate the leg-before wicket of Kyle Mayers which had been upheld after review on the stroke of lunch on the fourth day of the second Test against the West Indies at the Wanderers.

Maharaj, who was initially pigeonholed as a Test-match tweaker, advanced his bowling game to a point where he was consistently challenging Tabraiz Shamsi for the main 50-over spin-bowling slot.

The left-arm spinner's injury absence, which will see him miss out on a county stint with English county club Middlesex, saw Shamsi return to the ODI squad for the West Indies series that starts on Thursday.

Surgery on Friday will reveal the extent of Maharaj's absence.

READ | Proteas skipper Bavuma says a debutant or two in the offing for first Windies ODI

Bavuma recounted the emotions the team experienced when celebrating their 284-run win on Saturday, while also knowing that their crack spinner will be out of long-term service.

"That was quite tough and, in seeing Keshav sitting in his spot with the moon boot and crutches, we were trying to celebrate the moment of winning the match and the series, but also knowing that one of our main players will be out for quite a while," Bavuma said.

"It was tough for us emotionally, but Kesh is a strong character and will bounce back better than what the surgery diagnosis will be.

"When it happened on the field, I was probably the closest person to Keshav and I honestly don't know what happened.

"I saw him try to celebrate and he fell, but I