Kolkata: Aiden Markram stepped up to the plate for South Africa, leading the side in this T20 World Cup. However, the captain is not ready to take full credit for his team’s brilliant performance.
“I’m fortunate to lead a very strong team,” Markram said Tuesday. “It’s a good mix of some young guys and older guys with a lot of experience. You can rely on them and when you have some questions they’ll help guide you and guide you.”
Talking about the captaincy, the left-hander said: “I think it was more about taking really good decisions under pressure. Queenie (Quinton de Kock) read the situation well from behind the stumps and that made a huge difference for us.”
The 31-year-old Chargers skipper, who has a strike rate of 175.16 in this tournament, said his role as a batsman is different from that of a captain. “One thing I have learned from this World Cup and from recent months is to make appropriate efforts to differentiate between the two roles. If you do a good job as a batsman for the team, you will ultimately hopefully contribute to the winning cause,” he said.
However, Markram feels their victory against New Zealand earlier in the tournament is in the past. “I wish cricket was that easy,” he said with a smile. “It’s a fresh start and it’s a semifinal. I don’t think it’s as simple as being able to repeat it again.”
‘New Zealanders used to be labeled losers’
However, his New Zealand counterpart Mitchell Santner had no problem being the underdog in this high-pressure clash. “Well, we’ve had this label for a long time, so we’re used to it,” he said.
The left-arm spinner is ready to learn from his previous defeat against the same opponent. “I think they’ve got all the bases covered and that’s why they’re undefeated in this tournament. We’re just going to go out there and try to put some pressure on them at different stages of the game,” Santner said.
The dew might come into play later in the game, but Santner didn’t seem too worried. “No matter what you do first, if you do it well, you’re going to be in a really good position,” he said.
