“There’s certainly a lot more hurt than satisfaction from my side.” – Aiden Markram
Telford Vice | Cape Town
FUNNY thing, faith. Especially for the irreligious. But even they know it when they see it, and it was etched into every inch of Aiden Markram on Monday as he walked out with Rassie van der Dussen to continue South Africa’s bid to win the Rawalpindi Test and square the series.
Their partnership was already worth 94 and the pitch was more than decent for a fifth-day surface. But the target of 370, more than any team had scored to win a Test in Pakistan, was still 243 runs away. Even so, by the look of Markram — jaw set as square as his shoulders, eyes level, clear and focused, purpose in his stride — he had faith that success was there for the taking.
And it was taken. Not by South Africa. By Markram. He came to Pakistan with a reputation as a stellar talent who was vulnerable to spin. His best effort in Asia had been the 39 he made against India in Visakhapatnam in October 2019, which at 74 balls was also the longest of his eight innings in the subcontinent. He had been dismissed by spinners in seven of those innings. He averaged 10.50 in Asia. In his other 32 innings, all of them in South Africa, he had scored five centuries and averaged 46.74.
But you need to believe before you can do. And Markram did so well enough to score 74 in the first innings in Karachi, and to face 224 balls — his longest Test innings anywhere. In the second innings in Rawalpindi, he was there for 243 deliveries. His 108 was a triumph of discipline and application and a ringing repudiation of the earlier doubts over his ability in conditions that aren’t of his choosing.
So why did Markram seem close to tears at an online press conference on Monday? Those soldierly shoulders had slumped, and his eyes were as soft as an antelope’s. And shining. While Markram had had enough faith that his team could win, perhaps the other South Africans did not. And Pakistan had more, much of it bundled into the unassuming frame of Hasan Ali — who bowled Van der Dussen with the third ball of the day’s play, trapped Faf du Plessis in front in the fifth over, and had Markram and Quinton de Kock caught behind off consecutive deliveries with the second new ball.
South Africa were bowled out for 274, losing their last seven wickets for 33 runs, the match by 95 runs, and the series 2-0. In the first innings, the collapse was 6/87. Karachi saw crashes of 5/41 and 9/70. “Poor batting by South Africa, and that’s saying it nicely,” was how Daryll Cullinan summarised Monday’s mess on commentary.
Cricket has many cruelties, but the worst of them is that a player who has excelled against the odds and under pressure can be made to feel as if they have done nothing of value in the overarching story of their team’s failure. Markram was that player on Monday: “Ultimately we as sportsmen are highly competitive people. So to lose a game and a series eats more at you than one or two personal performances that might have gone alright. There’s certainly a lot more hurt than satisfaction from my side. It felt like there were stages, throughout the series and throughout this game, where just when we started making progress and getting ahead, we’d give it away. That’s where the hurt comes from. It’s time for us to take lessons and to learn and to not make the same mistakes going forward.”
How might that happen, given South Africa’s dismal record of throwing their wickets away as if they were hand-grenades from which the pins had been pulled? “You have to appreciate the fact that we are in the subcontinent and getting in is really tough,” Markram said. “The nature of the conditions often suggests that wickets will fall in clusters. Obviously we haven’t got the solution for it. But the lesson will be to keep minds nice and calm and clear when going out to bat, just to get through the first 20 or 30 balls to settle the nerves. Normally, once you’re in, it does slowly but surely get a bit easier.”
There was no opportunity to remind Markram that South Africa had been undone by fast bowling in Rawalpindi, where Hasan took 10/114. Besides, that might have pushed him over the edge. “The mood is pretty down at the moment,” he said. “It’s never nice losing matches and losing Test series. It definitely leaves a bitter taste. We will take time to reflect and see where we can improve and hopefully when it matters we can deliver.”
With Australia postponing their series in South Africa, which had been scheduled for next month, over Covid fears, when Markram and his teammates might have the chance to show that they have done that successfully is uncertain. “It’s always a really exciting series to be a part of and there’s normally quite good cricket on display,” Markram said of the Australians’ late decision. “It’s not ideal that that series isn’t going ahead. We’re just going to have to wait over the next couple of weeks to find out if there will be … or, let’s put it this way, to find out when the next Test series will be for us.”
By then, given De Kock’s unconvincing performance as a Test captain in Pakistan, Markram could be in charge of the side. “I haven’t given it too much thought,” he said. “I don’t think with, what’s it been now, four Test matches this season, it allows a player to all of a sudden think very differently and think along those lines. It’s something I would naturally enjoy doing but nothing I have given too much time of day to. My goal is ultimately to score runs and win games. That’s still the focus for me. It’s difficult to say what’s going to happen.”
It is. That’s why you need faith.
First published Cricbuzz.
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