Aiden Markram is targeting the two-match series against Sri Lanka to re-establish himself as a regular and reliable Test match opener for the Proteas.
Speaking to the media ahead of the opening Test starting at Centurion on Saturday, Markram said he had enjoyed his domestic run of good form.
He also mentioned he had welcomed the period during lockdown, during which he could clear his mind and work on his game.
With his game fine-tuned, Markram was recalled to the Test squad after scores of 149, 12, 113 and 75 in his last three matches for the Titans.
He is now looking to convert that impressive effort into Test runs.
“It’s been nice to spend some time in the middle playing franchise cricket,” Markram said.
“And it’s nice to take some confidence from that. That’s what I’m going to try to take across.
“It’s nice to know I’m moving well and things are starting to get back to where they were 18 months ago.
“I’m not going to think too much about form. It’s quite important to start level again against Sri Lanka.
“It’s about batting time in Test match cricket and spending time in the middle to work things out.”
And while he attempts to reaffirm his spot, Markram says captaining his country is the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.
“I really enjoy captaincy. But I have not put too much focus on that to be honest.
“I’m almost in a position of where I’m playing for my spot again.
“So for me to be thinking about captaincy is certainly not on my radar at all.
“I need to score lot of runs for the country if I do play.
“I haven’t been good enough over the past 18 months and now it’s just about scoring lots of runs.
“In terms of leadership in the camp as you know there are plenty leaders.
“Each guy has his own unique style of leading, so the guys have almost tapped into each other from that perspective and that should get us going in the right direction.”
The last time Sri Lanka were in the country in the early part of 2019, they became the first Asian side to win a Test series on SA soil.
They won that series 2-0 and it would have come as an embarrassment to the Proteas team.
Markram said they had plans to overturn that result.
“We definitely touched on what happened the last time they were here.
“It’s hard to pinpoint a reason as to why we went 2-0 down.
“But at the end of the day our skills were not up to scratch and we didn’t perform like we needed to win the series.
“A big positive is we haven’t played Test cricket in a while, so the hunger levels are up there for every individual, as I’m sure it will be for the Sir Lankans.
“It’s about coming up with big performances and getting into positions where we can win the game.
“We don’t want to be chasing the game.”
The Proteas squad is: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortjé, Glenton Stuurman, Sarel Erwee, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne, Migael Pretorius, Dwaine Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Raynard van Tonder.
HeraldLIVE
Scoring runs on his radar, not thinking about captaincy
Markram hungry to make Test spot his again
Sports editor
Image: GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES/LEE WARREN
Aiden Markram is targeting the two-match series against Sri Lanka to re-establish himself as a regular and reliable Test match opener for the Proteas.
Speaking to the media ahead of the opening Test starting at Centurion on Saturday, Markram said he had enjoyed his domestic run of good form.
He also mentioned he had welcomed the period during lockdown, during which he could clear his mind and work on his game.
With his game fine-tuned, Markram was recalled to the Test squad after scores of 149, 12, 113 and 75 in his last three matches for the Titans.
He is now looking to convert that impressive effort into Test runs.
“It’s been nice to spend some time in the middle playing franchise cricket,” Markram said.
“And it’s nice to take some confidence from that. That’s what I’m going to try to take across.
“It’s nice to know I’m moving well and things are starting to get back to where they were 18 months ago.
“I’m not going to think too much about form. It’s quite important to start level again against Sri Lanka.
“It’s about batting time in Test match cricket and spending time in the middle to work things out.”
And while he attempts to reaffirm his spot, Markram says captaining his country is the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.
“I really enjoy captaincy. But I have not put too much focus on that to be honest.
“I’m almost in a position of where I’m playing for my spot again.
“So for me to be thinking about captaincy is certainly not on my radar at all.
“I need to score lot of runs for the country if I do play.
“I haven’t been good enough over the past 18 months and now it’s just about scoring lots of runs.
“In terms of leadership in the camp as you know there are plenty leaders.
“Each guy has his own unique style of leading, so the guys have almost tapped into each other from that perspective and that should get us going in the right direction.”
The last time Sri Lanka were in the country in the early part of 2019, they became the first Asian side to win a Test series on SA soil.
They won that series 2-0 and it would have come as an embarrassment to the Proteas team.
Markram said they had plans to overturn that result.
“We definitely touched on what happened the last time they were here.
“It’s hard to pinpoint a reason as to why we went 2-0 down.
“But at the end of the day our skills were not up to scratch and we didn’t perform like we needed to win the series.
“A big positive is we haven’t played Test cricket in a while, so the hunger levels are up there for every individual, as I’m sure it will be for the Sir Lankans.
“It’s about coming up with big performances and getting into positions where we can win the game.
“We don’t want to be chasing the game.”
The Proteas squad is: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortjé, Glenton Stuurman, Sarel Erwee, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne, Migael Pretorius, Dwaine Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Raynard van Tonder.
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