Markram mentality: Captain cool ahead of T20 World Cup final

By Daniel Beswick

"It's a personal and individual motivation that you get to a final, to earn the opportunity to hopefully lift the trophy.

"But we all understand (as a team) this game and how it works and how things can go for you, things can go against you, and you take that in your stride."

With measure and poise at the post-match press conference after their victory against Afghanistan, and reflecting on just "another game of cricket", you'd never think Aiden Markram, moments after an ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final, had just become the first South Africa men's captain to take the Proteas to the promised land of a World Cup final.

On the field, Markram's cool kept South Africa ahead against Afghanistan in their semi-final meeting, backing his quicks to press on with seven wickets and setting attacking fields, before cleaning up the tail through the deployment of Tabraiz Shamsi, a player he has entrusted more as the tournament has gone on.

With the bat, he extinguished any late Afghanistan bowling blitz, and with microphone both in hand with Simon Doull, and in front of the press, his calm was unwavered.

Unperturbed by hoodoos and history before them, he, and South Africa, were clinical.

After a defeat in the 2023 edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup semi-final to Australia, Markram and South Africa could have easily joined compatriots of yesteryear with a trip up against Rashid Khan's side in Trinidad: world-class players who couldn't quite close out when push came to shove, again.

Markram and his charges though showed no signs of going down the same path, earning an early mark thanks to complete performance, and the skipper, grateful to make history for his country, paid tribute to those who were unable to overcome the hurdle in previous tournaments.

"They were guys that are legends of the game, legends of South African cricket. In my eyes, it doesn't matter if they made a final or not, because they inspired all of us to play cricket for South Africa," Markram said.

"Because of them, we're trying to represent those people that have played before us, so we're glad we've made them proud, (and) to an extent I still feel we've got one more step left."

Markram has now gone 10 matches unbeaten as captain in senior global events, joining Sune Luus as South African skippers to reach World Cup finals, with the latter doing so at the Women's T20 World Cup last year on home soil.

Markram, looking ahead to the June 29 final, believes he has the side to lift the trophy and become South Africa's first senior World Cup-winning team.

"We're happy with the squad that we have here," Markram responded when asked he had all bases covered for the final, a meeting with either India or England in Barbados.

"It's not just the XI playing. It's a massive squad effort. And you pick your XI based on conditions. That's all it's about.

"So once we get to Barbados and we see what we think we're going to come across in terms of the pitch, then we'll try to pick our best XI. But we're really happy as a white-ball group where we are and the options that we do have when it comes to selection."

Markram's successful record as skipper goes back before the eight wins at T20 World Cup 2024 and the two wins in as many starts as skipper when taking over from an injured Temba Bavuma at Cricket World Cup 2023, having also gone six from six 10 years ago as the Proteas won the 2014 edition of the Under 19 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

The now-29-year-old can also lay claim to both SA20 trophies thus far as captain, and while he needed reminding of his unblemished record at World Cups, Markram feels any previous success can help in the Proteas final push.

"It's a really long time ago and my memory is not great, but you get a little bit of confidence and a little bit of belief knowing you have done it on a certain level before," he added.

"I don't think it's the exact same here as men's cricket, but there are similar pressures that you have to deal with being in a final and we would have experienced that in 2014, so the bit of confidence the bit of belief that we can take from that we'll try use to the best that we can."

There's almost Catch-22 to the 2024 South Africa squad. Markram's calm rubs off on the other 14 players in the squad, though Markram would likely argue that it's the squad's vibe that bounces back as a reflection of him. Accessible to those on the outside, though uncluttered by external noise, the group embody a spirit few others have had at the tournament.

And it's not as if this spirit hasn't been tested. While unbeaten the side had to negotiate a tough New York wicket, brushing aside Sri Lanka before tight wins over Bangladesh and the Netherlands, before seeing off a late Nepal pounce in Saint Vincent. USA's challenge in Antigua was quelled by Kagiso Rabada's death-over charge, before close wins against England and the West Indies.

The side have travelled almost the entire length of tournament venues from the north of the USA down to Trinidad (only a trip to Guyana would have been longer), and as Markram and the batting unit have been forced to negotiate tough batting conditions for a large part of the tournament, he paid tribute to the bowling group for stepping up and over-delivering

"This team's been together for a long time now as a white-ball group, both formats, and it's nice for us to get to a final," Markram said.

"We feel and we believe that we can compete with the best in the world and we can win trophies. And it's nice for us to now have that opportunity and make it into a final.

"The bowlers, not just today, but the whole competition, they've been really good. Probably saving the batters on certain occasions, but conditions I would say have been in their favour.

"But even when you say that, they still have to get it done right and that's exactly what they've been doing for us game in and game out, so you have to give a lot of appreciation towards them."

As South Africa wait to learn who they will face at Kensington Oval, Markram, reflecting on the journey, feels the team are ready for any challenge.

"You do get belief though from winning close games and potentially winning games that you thought you weren't going to win. It does a lot for your changing room and the vibe in the changing room.

"So we'll take a little bit of confidence from that and see if we can put it to any use in the final."