SA vs IND 2018: Centurion defeat was an eye opener, says Aiden Markram

Pitches are not responsible for our first two defeats, says Aiden Markram.

India won Centurion ODI by 9-wicket | AP

Aiden Markram –stand-in skipper of the South African side, on Monday, admitted that their massive Centurion defeat at the hands of India was an eye-opening experience for him.

With the help of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav's thrilling wrist spin, India defeated the hosts by nine-wickets and took a 2-0 lead in the six-match One Day international series in South Africa.

Markram, who led the national side for the first time, said the Proteas camp are very upset and disappointed with the defeat, but is confident that they will do well in remaining four ODIs.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Aiden Markram told reporters, “It was eye-opening definitely. But it might just bring out the best in our squad and might bring some fight into the game. So I'm looking forward to seeing how the guys react. Obviously, the guys are very upset and disappointed. But the beauty of it is that everyone's disappointed in themselves. That's where the culture stands out and it stands strong. Each player will look to get better now going forward. It is a quick turnaround but it might fire the guys up going into the remaining four matches, which I think is a great thing for us.”

He went to further added that the Proteas batsman failed to counter the Indian spin duo -Chahal and Yadav, saying they have played spin incredibly well. He added, “Obviously they (Chahal and Yadav) are two quality bowlers in their own right. I don't think we played them particularly well and that's where our downfall was today. Having said that, you are never going to come across a bad attack in international cricket, and you're never going to come across a bad batting line-up either. It's just one of those things. I don't think we played spin incredibly well. It's obviously something we need to work on, but it's not a massive danger for us.”

The 23-year-old further added that they failed to execute their plans against India, adding, “I don't think there is too much lack of a game plan. If you speak to each individual in our top six, each person has got a clear plan. So it obviously comes down to execution on the day. Like I said, they are two quality wrist-spinners and we give them credit. But I still think we can execute better. Plans are in place and now we just have to keep working hard to execute, that's all.”

Markram signed off by saying, “I don't think the pitches have been too bad. Today's wicket, we just didn't play good cricket on it, that's all. No excuses towards the pitch or anything along those lines. We're pointing the finger straight back at ourselves. We need to get better.”

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 05 Feb, 2018

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