Proteas spinner Keshav Maharaj will return to the playing field sooner than expected.

Maharaj suffered a complete rupture of his left achilles tendon while celebrating a successful appeal for lbw during the second Test against the West Indies at the Wanderers in March. He went under the knife a few days later.

That put him in doubt for the ODI World Cup in India in October and November, but he is now expected to return to the Proteas’ ODI team for their match against Australia in Bloemfontein on 7 September.

“He recovered from his heel injury faster than expected. He is ahead of schedule in terms of his rehabilitation,” Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter told Rapport newspaper.

The Proteas squads for the three T20I matches and five ODIs against Australia will be named on Monday.

“There may be a few new faces in the T20 team. We will more or less stick with our regular one-day team,” said Walter.