Captain Aiden Markram on South Africa - India T20 world cup final
Captain Aiden Markram on South Africa - India T20 world cup final
28/06/2024
icc24
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
28/06/2024
icc24
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Do you look at the prospect of taking on a team which has not won a title in the last
00:05ten years but should have, against a team who has never won a world title?
00:11Probably just see it as a new game of cricket, to be honest.
00:15We all know India is a great team, us as a team as South Africans have been sort of trending
00:21in the right direction the last couple of years but maybe not progressed in tournaments
00:26as far as we would have liked.
00:28So an exciting occasion tomorrow against a good opposition in India but a nice opportunity
00:34for us as the proteas as well.
00:37You've got quite a few people in your team who have been part of those teams that haven't
00:44made finals in the past.
00:46It looks from the outside like the difference is you've found a way to win keen moments
00:50in tight matches.
00:52Would you agree with that and could you expand on that?
00:55Why is it you think you've been able to do that in this tournament whereas you haven't
01:01been able to do it in the past?
01:04Not 100 per cent sure but I would agree I think there's been close moments in games
01:10that would have probably affected the result and we managed to win those moments.
01:17So to have done them two, three, maybe four times throughout the competition so far, sort
01:24of given the team the belief that you can win from any position, which I think is quite
01:29important for a team to have that.
01:33Guys we've been together now for quite a few years as a squad, as a white ball squad and
01:38guys finally really understanding their roles within the team and I think that's starting
01:43to help us win those small margins and those knife-edge moments.
01:48First time ever in a world tournament like T20 World Cup, not batters but bowlers are
02:07real heroes.
02:08So as a captain, how happy are you about that and as a batter, how tough it is?
02:15Yeah it's been tough as a batter but I suppose either way as a captain, whether it's batting
02:23or bowling friendly, if your unit that's putting performances in for you to get the wins or
02:30if they're doing their job like they have been, you're pretty happy as a captain.
02:35So I suppose it's been nice for the bowlers, I think T20 cricket as a whole throughout
02:43the world now has pretty much been a better friendly game so I guess it's been nice to
02:48see for the bowlers and something nice for the bowlers to work with but from a batting
02:52point of view it's been pretty challenging.
02:54Have you bowled or marked them?
02:56I mean half and half, I haven't bowled too much but we'll see what happens.
03:01Edan, can you tell us how it feels for you emotionally as a captain to be the guy to
03:11take South Africa over this frontier and reflecting on some of the people who've sat
03:17in your chair before, some of the great names of South African cricket who haven't quite
03:21got there and have any of those guys been in touch?
03:24Yeah there's been a lot of support back home or from back home from past players which
03:31is special for us as a group.
03:33They are the guys that inspired us when we were younger and to now be firstly making
03:39them proud but also having their support obviously means a hell of a lot to us as a team.
03:44I don't see it as it was me that got us into this position at all, it's been a squad effort
03:50and a squad that's been together for a few years now that's been on a journey and the
03:55journey has now finally got us here to our first final which is a proud and special feeling
04:01not just for me but for everyone involved in the squad and to have an opportunity to
04:08win our first trophy, you have to be in a final to have that opportunity and to at least
04:13be involved in that tomorrow is a massive achievement for us.
04:16Are there any of those past players and past defeats that stand out for you in the time
04:31that you were growing up, were there any in particular that you remember?
04:36Probably the 2015 one, was that the one in New Zealand or Australia, one of those two
04:41against New Zealand, that one was probably the most gut-wrenching for me as a cricket
04:48fan back then so I'll probably remember that one pretty clearly.
04:54Have you allowed yourself to think what it would be if you were to win tomorrow and this
05:00would be the team that breaks the new ground for South Africa and wins it?
05:05Not too much, it's almost like you get in a competition like this and things move pretty
05:10quickly, you play a game, you get on a plane, you fly, you check in at a new hotel and play
05:16your next game of cricket the next day so I don't think there's too much reflecting
05:21that happens but it's more the opportunity that we have of being in a final that sort
05:28of excites me quite a bit, I think after the competition we'll sit back and really appreciate
05:33what we've achieved so far as a team, whether you win or whether you lose you've gone a
05:40step further at least and for us that's again going in the right direction but we'd love
05:45to get to our first final and be able to win that first final and hopefully in the years
05:50to come that can break the burden of what a lot of other people are saying about us
05:54as a team.
05:56Aidan, obviously there was so much made about South Africa never previously having won a
06:02semi-final and a lot of the ex-players just saying how big that achievement is in itself
06:07for you to reach a final but in terms of the mindset of your players going into the final,
06:14how do you sort of leave that to one side and really pick yourselves up that the biggest
06:21game is still to come and you need to have your best game of the tournament tomorrow?
06:25Yeah it's important, we were obviously a happy bunch the other night after qualifying for
06:32the final but it's amazing, I'm sure all teams do it but straight after that game in the
06:38change room you still reflect and you say guys we've still got one more step to go so
06:44it's not driven by a coach or by a captain, the whole unit sort of feels that and is driven
06:49by that. As general sportsmen are highly competitive people and nobody would want to
06:56lose and especially not lose in a final so I think there's no sort of sense that the
07:03guys are satisfied regardless of the result tomorrow, I think there's still a massive
07:08hunger for us to go out and win tomorrow's game.
07:10Aidan, it sounds like you had a pretty difficult kind of travel day yesterday, can you just
07:15kind of explain that and whether that's had an impact on players and just generally this
07:19tournament, you've had a couple of tough logistical kind of things, what's that been like?
07:26Yeah we've had a couple, I suppose a lot of other teams have gone through similar things
07:32and we joke about it as a team and say we're kind of used to it now and it's just been
07:38part of this tournament and you've just got to crack on with things, there's no point
07:42in sulking around and making it more miserable than what it might already seem to be so it
07:49was a slightly longer day yesterday, I think a lot of you guys are with us but it was one
07:56of those, like I say, you just bite the bullet, you get there a bit later, you have some food
08:01and you rest your head and wake up today with a really positive attitude about the next
08:07couple of days that lay ahead.
08:09Aidan?
08:11Hi Aidan, for back-to-back games, for semi-finals, finals, how do you even prepare for something
08:17like this because you guys are playing on a trot right now, so how is the South African
08:24team preparing for a game like that with no time?
08:28So there's obviously training this afternoon but completely optional to the individual
08:32if they'd like to come here, see the ground, maybe have a hit or run around, they're also
08:38more than welcome to put their feet up in the hotel room or at the swimming pool and
08:43then a lot of it I think is just mentally getting sharp and getting up for the game.
08:49Cricketers now play quite a lot of cricket and quite regularly and play back-to-back
08:53games pretty often so I don't think it's something new for us as a team to deal with but definitely
08:59important to address the fact that mentally you need to be switched on and have all your
09:04energy channelled in the right direction going into tomorrow.
09:08Aidan, how's it Aidan?
09:11You've been in big matches before, semi-finals, finals, you've lost your one, are you emotionally
09:19are you feeling any differently than you would in other games for this month?
09:24Not just yet, no, I'm sure you wake up tomorrow, there'll be a lot of emotions inside that
09:31you'll be feeling but for the time being still just excited at the opportunity, trying
09:37not to waste any energy, be it emotional energy or whatever, just wondering about what tomorrow
09:42could look like I think.
09:45We've always chatted as a team about taking care of today and today's a rest day so making
09:52sure we sleep really well and spend a lot of time with the feet up and then take on
09:57tomorrow and see where it gets us.
10:00Is it easy to be able to try to stop yourself from thinking and spending energy, doesn't
10:06that also spend energy when you're trying to stop yourself from thinking about it?
10:10Just distract yourself really, find something to do or watch a show or something, burn some
10:17time I guess.
10:18I mean for a team to go unbeaten through a month of cricket in a tournament like this
10:24usually you'd think there's something different about the team maybe than previous teams.
10:29In terms of the mentality or the team spirit, that side of things, is there something about
10:34this team that makes it to you feel different from previous ones?
10:39I mean it's the same group of people like I mentioned that have been together now for
10:44quite some time.
10:45I think there's a really strong will to win.
10:51I don't think it's on the level of desperation though but it's an extreme hunger to win games
10:57of cricket and we haven't achieved ideally on the world stage what we would have liked
11:03to and I think that gets the reducers going a bit for the boys to finally achieve it and
11:10try to achieve it at least.
11:13I think you've seen it in the close results, probably not have played some of our best
11:16cricket in certain games but that will to win sort of drives you to, by hook or by crook,
11:22get the job done.
11:23So that's probably one thing that's really stood out for me in this group.
11:28You win those close games and you take a lot of belief moving forward that sort of from
11:32any position you feel like you can still win the game.
11:34Yeah, Aiden's India-South Africa contest in recent times has been very engrossing.
11:41But are you worried about the fact that Virat Kohli is yet to score in the tournament?
11:45I mean it's come to the big final, we all know what a player he has been, so any bit
11:50of plan and are you worried about the fact that he has not scored runs in the tournament?
11:57I mean, I don't think it worries me.
12:02He's a great player as we all know but they've got their whole batting units full of great
12:08players and cricket's a game of ups and downs, you're not always going to do well especially
12:13as a batter so we just do our planning, do our preparation and from a meetings point
12:19of view for planning towards those batters and hopefully on the day we can get that right.
12:25Aiden, Indian team has immensely benefitted from IPL, many of you play definitely but
12:31not all of you.
12:32So has the current surge in performance of South Africa team has anything to do with
12:38the SA20?
12:39Yeah, the SA20 has been fantastic for cricket in South Africa, we've seen what the IPL has
12:46done for cricket in India from an exposure point of view for players and ideally SA20
12:52is going to get to a similar sort of vibe or it's going to achieve the same thing for
12:59cricket in South Africa hopefully.
13:01So it has been great, I think we've seen quite a few more South Africans are getting picked
13:05up around the world in various leagues so yeah, you'd like to think that SA20 is going
13:12to play a big role moving forward but already in its two years of existence has played a
13:17pretty big role.