South African and Asian conditions are totally different and that makes Test cricket so intriguing for the players and Proteas batsman Aiden Markram has admitted the challenges to play in the Indian subcontinent in the longest format of the game after he failed to live up to the hype in Pakistan.
The opening batsman was part of South Africa’s top-order collapse in the first innings but he stood up tall in the second innings, facing 224 deliveries for 74 runs – his first half-century in the subcontinent after 8 innings – in the recent defeated first Test against Pakistan at the National Stadium.
In the first innings in Karachi, the South Africans were dismissed for 220 in 69.2 overs while they could manage only 245 runs in the second with Markram managing only 97 runs at an average of 10.78.
He had to blame himself for his team’s low scoring as Pakistan needed only 88 runs to win the first Test and they chased down the total at the expense of three wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing two-Test series.
However, Markram said his first half-century in the Indian subcontinent has given him the confidence to back himself under unpredictable conditions and take the things to next level.
Markram said in an online press conference: “We started batting when the ball started turning. We had a chance to learn how the Pakistanis played in their first innings. Just observing how they went about it - the ability to back your defence, even in conditions where the ball starts turning, is important.”
The 26-year-old further explained, “Albeit it is a small step, at least there's a step in the right direction. There’s a still lot of learning and growing for me to do in conditions like these. It was challenging for me to accept spending time [at the crease] and not worry about scoring, but that was one of the things that had to be done on a wicket like that.
From a satisfaction thing, there is a bit I can take from this knock, a little bit of confidence. I would have loved to kick on.
It was so close to stumps, and if I could have managed to find my way through that and started over [on Friday] it could have helped settle the changeroom and helped us post a bigger target. I'm to blame for that but there's also an element of confidence, which I'll try and take from the innings.”
Comparing South African and subcontinent conditions, the right-hander said: “Conditions-wise, naturally it's extremely different. But on the mental side of things, there are times in South Africa, in seamer-friendly conditions, where you have to be brave and try something different.
Or something is new to you and you have to try it out. Maybe it's the same in these conditions. Maybe that adaptability - having plans in place to, if needs be, chop and change between them.”
The right-hander signed off by saying, “It's important that we don't make the same mistakes as in other series. From a personal perspective, the thing that helped me was spending time in the middle and eventually feeling like I could find a way to score.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
