South Africa -captain Aiden Markram says that the Proteas is determined to eradicate a worrying trend of heavy defeats in T20 cricket, and admits that recent heavy defeats “have hurt the egos” and the team forced the team in a number of heavy reflections.
“I think you follow a lot of lessons from the second game,” he said to England after the series struck by the rain. “We are clearly thinking about it and we are enthusiastic about the possibility to try to repair some of those things today, but unfortunately the rain came through and did not really stop. So we talked about it, of course, have tackled it as a group and now we will have to wait until the next T20 put those things back in place.”
The series marked the continuation of the new partnership of Markram with Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order. “Of course still fresh. We can also get along very well, so I think that helps. Cricket is a funny game in terms of sport, in terms of performance. We want to improve to get the team off to get better, but to buy in the way we want to play as a team and hopefully we can start a number of good performance with that Pakistan series.”
Opening remains a relatively new role for the captain, but he says he enjoyed it.
“I turn quite a bit in the middle order, so it is a position where you need your game at different levels at different times, while I think I think you are much more consistent with your planning.
“That helps. Sometimes you get good wickets and you can cash in. I have had the feeling that I have now a few times, but I have not completely cashed.
“So that is where the goal is and the focus is now ahead, to keep trying to get the team to the right start, but when you play the right match-winning beating.”
With the T20 World Cup up, he says that the emphasis will be just as good on mindset as on skill.
“We are still looking at options. We still give opportunities, which is exciting with the young crew that we have come through and the fearless crew. So much of it is about stimulating the approach, stimulating the mental approach to the game and teaching faith in the boys.
“From the point of view of skills, I think we all chip our games to try to improve. For me, many of them are planning as a captain.
“If our plans are in order and we are planning for difficult scenarios or scenarios where we are on the front foot, if you have tackled it for the game, I find it a lot easier to enter into things in the middle.
“So that is where the focus will be a lot of planning and mental application for the approach of T20 cricket.”
However, recent heavy losses remain a concern.
“You never like losing and then you don’t like losing big margins. So it certainly hurts the egos. It certainly hurts the feelings.
“We have focused on that second T20 now that it happened three times and I have placed a lot of emphasis to ensure that it no longer happens.
“If you look at the way we approach the game, our processes of the field, we must believe that hopefully that is not something that continues.”
Markram also emphasized the need for bowlers to support their strengths when they are under pressure.
“Each is different from every bowler. They bring a unique set of skills that they should ultimately support. The circumstances will also talk to you about what can work and what will not work.
“I think it gets married with those two things and completely records it. Much of the pressure can cause you to leave plans or away from strengths because it can all be a bit of a blur under that pressure.
“I just remember that and repeats that the boys gives yourself the best chance of implementation, and that is ultimately where the game is won and lost.”
The return of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen has been another boost.
“It is clear that they both come back from injuries. So it was great to have them back in meetings. Their input, their knowledge, experience they bring is great for us as a team to have.
“We understand that bowlers can have such nights in T20 cricket, so I’m not worried about being honest.
“But I am very excited to have them back with everything they bring on and out of the field.”
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