Aiden Markram led South Africa’s Under-19 team to victory in the World Cup more than nine years ago, and it has been more than five years since he captained the senior team in five of the six ODIs they played in a lengthy series against India. Such encounters provided Markram contrasting impressions of what the role would ultimately entail and were tasters of what seemed to be his birthright as captain of South Africa’s men’s national team.
His time as a U-19 was successful and enjoyable. At a press conference on the eve of the first T20I against West Indies, Markram said, “Everyone simply wanted to play and you just had to make sure the team was getting along and people understood their jobs, and that was pretty much as basic as it was.”
The ODI experience was discouraging for the team as much as for him. The series was lost by South Africa 5-1. 32 was Markram’s highest score. Shortly after, he was dropped from the side and was deeply dissatisfied with how things had turned out because he had high expectations for himself. At such young age, he admitted, “I was fairly fresh and quite severe on myself.” We all know that in sports, things don’t always go as planned, but I’ve always wanted to succeed.
Between those times, Markram was captained at the national level by Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, and Dean Elgar; at Hampshire by Sam Northeast; and in the IPL by Kane Williamson and KL Rahul. Du Plessis left the biggest impression of any of them. “I truly admired Faf’s ability to command his troops, and I want to be like him in that regard. I’ve picked up a lot from him just by watching from the side, perhaps without his knowledge “said Markram. “Years spent in this setting have been beneficial. The opportunity to learn from great leaders and see their methods has also influenced the way I am beginning to think.”
After gaining the last of his experience with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the group he guided to the first SA20 championship, Markram is now finally, truly prepared to realise what many believed to be his destiny. His three-match series against West Indies this weekend marks the start of his term as South Africa’s new, permanent T20I captain.
The past world champions are always a challenge for a team, but there aren’t many repercussions for Markram’s first game in terms of problems. Since there is no T20 World Cup this year, the team’s performance is not important for anything other than pride and laying some groundwork for his term. The atmosphere is still electrified. West Indies are a terrific squad to test our abilities against and assess where we stand in terms of our T20 team, according to Markram.
This year’s high for South Africa has already been reached. Even better than that, their women’s team advanced to the T20 World Cup final. Their franchise T20 tournament was played in front of generally sold-out crowds. As Markram put it, “We almost see it as them setting the benchmark, and that’s something for us to chase.” They’ve motivated us to make an effort to arrive there as well.
The men’s squad, though, is not expected to achieve those heights any time soon. South Africa is still uncertain of their participation in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Its setup is centred on 2027 and is managed by white-ball coach Rob Walter. Markram will have been 32 by then, and there is a good probability that he will be leading his squad in a World Cup held in his country.
He will need to learn a tonne of information before going there, and perhaps he might also heed some of his own counsel. You have to develop the ability to accept setbacks, Markram advised. “Whether something works or not, you must make an effort to remove performances and results from your concentration and instead pay attention to the actions that will give you the best chance to achieve that day. So far, those have been helpful to me.”
