T20 World Cup 2024: Markram happy not to play on Trinidad’s pitch anymore
Aiden Markram. Photo: ICC
South African captain Aiden Markram was adamant that he does not want to play another match on the field here, but was delighted to see his side conquer a challenging course in the semi-final to reach the first T20 World Cup final to start.
The deck of the Brian Lara Academy Stadium offered considerable freedom of movement and the South African quicks used this to its full potential to bowl Afghanistan out for a failing 56.
When we look back at this wicket, we will probably be glad we don’t play here anymore. T20 cricket as a whole, you want entertainment, Markram said in the post-match press briefing after SA defeated Afghanistan by nine wickets.
Markram was delighted to see South Africa find a way to win on a challenging strip.
“The wickets we’ve had in the competition have been quite challenging. It’s hard to say a wicket is not good because it can’t always be a batsman’s game.
“Having said that, we can still take the positives. Wickets are difficult. So finding a way to win is probably the most important thing.”
South Africa now travels to Barbados for the final against India or England.
We’ve been doing it for most of our careers, you jump from location to location where the conditions are very different. So again it’s just adapting and playing on the field and the game in front of you.
We will try to find ways to always take wickets with the ball and get to a score that is defendable from a batting point of view. Both teams have to play on the same wicket, he noted.
But for now, Markram wants to enjoy the feeling of being in a World Cup title match.
The pieces that we are now realizing, it is clearly a very good feeling. This team has been around for a long time as a white-ball group and it is nice that we are reaching a final.
We feel and believe that we can compete with the best in the world and win trophies. It’s nice that we now have that opportunity.”
The South Africa captain said winning close matches in the group stage and Super Eights stages boosted their confidence.
You do gain confidence by winning close games and possibly winning games you thought you couldn’t win.
It does a lot for the atmosphere in your dressing room. So we’ll take a bit of confidence from that and see if we can use it in the final, he offered.
In a sense, South Africa have atoned for all their past failures in global events, but Markram insisted the past was not an issue in the current dressing room.
To be honest, we haven’t talked about it yet. I think reaching a final is a personal and individual motivation; to earn the chance to receive the trophy.
“So, if you look back, we couldn’t get to the semi-final (in the 50-over World Cup against Australia) and if you look tonight, a few things went our way. We managed to win the match and we came in the final.
The bowlers, the whole competition, were really good. Probably to save the batters on certain occasions. So you have to give them a lot of appreciation.
Markram had led South Africa to the Under-19 World Cup title a decade ago, but he wasn’t really banking on that experience here.
It was a long time ago and my memory isn’t great, but you gain a bit of confidence and belief knowing you’ve done it before at some level. There are similar pressures you face when you are in a final, he added.
Markram was also kind enough to recognize Afghanistan’s great performance in this event.
It’s really cool to see. They’ve got some of the best players in the world at the moment. So they’re really on the right track. Making a semi-final for them is obviously huge. I think they’ve inspired a lot of people back home.
“I’ve seen some pictures that inspire us as well to try and make that difference for the people back home. I’m sure this won’t be the end of knockout cricket,” he concluded.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: June 27, 2024 | 4:07 PM IST