Aiden Markram spent a lot of time thinking back to the Barbados World T20 final that South Africa lost to India, on the eve of the final WTC day. With 69 runs still to get, the horror memory reel of going down in yet another run chase, and the precise feeling of helplessness, gave him daytime nightmares.
He didn’t want to feel like that again.
Speaking at the press conference after the ICC title was won, he said, “I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night. And how helpless I felt sitting on the side after getting out and I was like I don’t want to sit there again. That gave me a bit of motivation to stay on the crease if I could,” he said, recalling the time when he edged to the Indian keeper Pant, and watched the chase not reach fruition.
What appeared to be a composed chase was actually an intense tightrope he walked in trying to take his team home. “But never once thought about the achievements and what would come with it. It was always about trying to get the job done and trying to win,” he added.
Like it happens with every issue in South African cricket, he was asked directly if the Proteas could finally get rid of the “choke” tag. The ridicule that cricket team faces for years, can be quite visceral, and Markram said the only way to get the monkey off the back, was to yank it off and throw it away, by calmly setting up the chase that he did with a century.
“It will be great to not hear it (insults of choking) again, that’s for sure,” Markram said. “In terms of motivating you, there will always be external things to motivate you. But that’s not your sole purpose for playing,” he said, of approaching the problem by knowing what the real goal was. “So to have got the job done. Literally, to have got the job done and to get rid of that is a big thing for this team,” he said.
Things did settle down eventually in his mind, and he led the roar at the team huddle and chants, that echoed through an empty Lord’s well after everyone had left. But before that he was lured into sipping some beer, as he met a fan and hugged him and his guzzle was cheered by an entire stand.
“Yeah that was cool. That was one of my mates from school. He wanted me to come over, I was like ‘flip man’ it’s too busy, it is chaos. He was like, oh ‘here’s a beer’. I was like Ok,” he said to loud chuckles from the press. “So I’ve had my first one for the day and I’m pretty sure there will be few more,” he said.
