Ahmedabad, Feb 13 (PTI) South Africa captain Aiden Markram believes his side is yet to reach its full potential but insists gradual improvement will deliver results as the T20 World Cup progresses.
Addressing the media on the eve of the Group D contest against New Zealand, Markram acknowledged that Black Caps coach Rob Walter, who has previously worked closely with several South African players, has a strong understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.
“He’ll know all of us pretty well, how each of us operates, what brings out the best in us and what challenges us,” Markram said.
“But we’re at a stage as a team where we still don’t think we’re at our best. The focus is on getting closer to our fullest potential. If we keep improving, the end result should take care of itself.” The skipper admitted discipline with the ball remains a concern, pointing to the 22 extras conceded across two matches.
“In this format, 11 extras a game is a lot of runs and it can hurt you. That’s been first and foremost in our discussions. Beyond that, it’s about letting each bowler use his strengths. You can’t have a fixed plan as a unit if it doesn’t suit individual skills,” he said.
On the team combination for the game under lights in Ahmedabad, Markram hinted that conditions could influence the balance between pace and spin.
“From a spin point of view at night, it can be less of a threat, especially if dew comes in. We haven’t announced the XI yet, but those are the conversations we’re having.” Markram also underlined the growing importance of slower balls in the tournament, with batters finding them difficult to read on good batting surfaces.
“As a batter, they can be quite challenging, especially if they’re deceptive. You’re breaking the pace of the game and asking the batter to swing at different speeds. On good wickets, you need ways to make it tougher for batters, and that’s why teams are changing pace more often,” he said.
Markram described the dramatic double Super Over against Afghanistan as a “nerve-wracking” and emotionally draining experience, saying it reinforced key lessons for the team in high-pressure situations.
“It’s quite draining to be fair. It honestly felt like it went on for an hour, hour and a half, even though that probably wasn’t the case. But you can’t really practice Super Overs, so you have to go through them and experience them as a team.
“We just got over the line, but at least we saw some really good things from our batting point of view.
“You don’t actually discuss these things too much, so definitely we’ve got a bit more clarity now that we’ve played them back-to-back. If we were to play in another one, I feel we don’t have to, but if we were to, we’ve got a good idea of the guys we can put down.” Markram stressed that the match served as a timely reminder of the importance of small moments in T20 cricket.
“It wasn’t so much a wake-up call, but it certainly felt like one in terms of realising the importance of every single delivery. You can’t afford to drift in this format. Each ball, each over, each small passage of play can decide the outcome.” PTI APS APS ATK
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