Aiden Markram gutted to miss out on the opportunity to kick on

Aiden Markram has expressed disappointment at his failure to turn his second innings of 74 against Pakistan into a hundred.

Markram disappointed to give it away

Markram owned up to effectively sparking the collapse that killed off the Proteas challenge but sees the innings as a step in the right direction for himself and for South Africa.

“By no means am I all of a sudden a finished product. It’s a small step in the right direction. Thats how I am trying to see it,” he said. “There’s a still a lot of learning and growing in conditions like these. From a satisfaction thing, there is a bit I can take form this knock, a little bit of confidence. I would have loved to kick on.”

The opening batsman said that the side was learning from their past mistakes, both in the first innings and on previous trips. Markram and Rassie van der Dussen had threatened to frustrate Pakistan until bith fell in quick succession leaving the Proteas well off the pace.

“The longer you batted, the lower it got which posed its own challenge, putting spin aside. It was a slightly different innings for me. It was quite a challenge to accept spending time and not worrying about scoring,” Markram said.

“It’s generally very difficult for a new batter to get in. It’s something we’ve highlighted on previous tours to the subcontinent and on this tour. So (as a batsman) your first 20-30 balls are vital. It’s generally tough to get in against a spinning ball.”

Backing yourself is the key

Markram isolated backing your defence and getting to the pitch of the ball whenever possible as key to succeeding in Pakistan.

“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. It’s the same here,” Markram said. “And we had the chance to learn from how Pakistan played and saw that we need to have the ability to back defence even in conditions that start to turn.

“It’s important that we don’t make the same mistakes we’ve made in previous tours,” he said. “The thing that helped me was spending time in the middle and feeling like you can find a way to score.”

The second Test between Pakistan and the Proteas will take place in Rawalpindi and gets underway on Thursday 4 February 2021.