Aiden Markram: Proteas ready for 'absolute crack' at T20 World Cup glory in India

Proteas T20 captain Aiden Markram believes his team have shaken off the hurt of losing the last T20 World Cup final and are ready to have another “crack” at global ICC tournament glory. 

Markram’s men came within seven runs of defeating India at the Kensington Oval in Barbados two years ago, with skipper admitting in the aftermath that he was “gutted”, particularly after they had reduced the equation to 30 runs off the final 30 balls with sluggers Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller at the crease. 

Klaasen has since retired from international cricket, while Miller has managed to get his ageing body to this T20 World Cup after passing a late fitness test on the eve of departure. 

While it may be emotional for the likes of veteran Miller to have one final attempt at winning silverware, Markram is taking it all in his stride. 

“Yeah, look, the previous World Cup is what it is, right? It's two years ago. It's done now. We've played a lot of cricket since. And every captain sitting here and the previous captains that were in here before us, they all want to lift the trophy,” Markram said at the pre-tournament captain’s briefing.

“So again, like I mentioned, you have to earn that right in your group stage first, and then continuously play good cricket. It's a competition in a format where any team can beat any team. It takes one or two special performances from individuals, and it breaks the game open. So obviously, we are here to win. We're motivated to win, especially after 2024. But yeah, that's not the sole reason for our motivation.”

The skipper also pointed out that the Proteas’ Women’s team’s near misses in consecutive T20 World Cup finals and the 50-over World Cup final recently only adds to the motivation and not added pressure to bring home a major limited-overs trophy. 

“There's been some good signs, I suppose, from the men's and the women's teams over the last couple of years. And to not quite have got over the line can be frustrating and disappointing, but you still got to take the positives that exist from those experiences," he said.

“So, we'll take what's worked. Obviously, we're in different conditions now, but take the confidence. And if we get to a position where we can try and win a trophy, then yeah, we will give it an absolute crack.” 

He also did not want to look too far ahead at a potential meeting with defending champions India, preferring to focus on the group stages, starting with Canada on Monday in Ahmedabad. 

“We don't have India in the group stage now, and hopefully, at some stage, we can get to a position in the comp where we can,” Markram said.

“But for now, we've got to focus on our group, making sure we have a good four games there and get ourselves and earn the right to be in a position where the competition can go further for us. But the focus is certainly just on our group for the time being.”