South Africa's Aiden Markram previews their game with Bangladesh at the ICC Cricket World Cup
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 How's it Aiden? Just two questions. The first one is just quickly, is Temba ready to go?
00:06 And the second one is, you have actually lost more ODIs yourself now against Bangladesh than you've
00:16 won ODIs against Bangladesh, and South Africa has also lost more World Cup games against
00:20 Bangladesh than they've won. So what do you sort of put that down to in this, that put your guys
00:25 on eye alert that you have to be fully firing from the get-go? Yeah, on Thames, he's definitely
00:34 improving. So there hasn't been a final call just yet on him. I think they're going to make the
00:38 call tomorrow, but he is at least in better spirits. And then, yeah, whenever you play Bangladesh,
00:45 it's obviously a massive game for us. We haven't done particularly well against them in the past,
00:51 so that's extra motivation for us to come out and replicate what was a good performance against
00:57 England, but more from an intensity level and a standards level. That's something that we're
01:02 going to try to focus on and trust that if we take care of those sorts of things, hopefully
01:08 it's enough for us on the day. What would be the quantum of confidence gained from such an
01:15 impressive win and the performance, especially when you're taking on a team from a subcontinent?
01:22 Yeah, I mean, the game last night, or not last night, a couple of nights ago was a good game
01:29 for us. But you still have to respect the fact that it's a new game of cricket starting tomorrow
01:34 and against opposition that's become a really good white ball team and then put them into
01:41 subcontinent conditions, obviously that aids them very well as well. So we have to respect that fact,
01:46 you can never take form as an individual or as a team for granted. And it's about us coming here
01:51 tomorrow with positive mindsets, taking confidence that we can take, but understanding that we have
01:57 to replicate that all again to hopefully get a good result. Aidan, there's been some talk about
02:07 whether it might be unfair on the pro tiers that the other World Cup is providing such a massive
02:14 distraction, certainly at home. But I actually wondered whether that was a very pleasant and
02:18 welcome distraction for you rather than a negative one? Yeah, I mean, we're following the rugby as
02:24 much as everyone else, to be honest. So it could be a distraction for us, a good distraction for us
02:29 as well. We're making all the time available to watch their games. And I suppose a lot of the
02:34 hype is around them right now and rightly so. They're doing some special things once again as
02:39 a team. It inspires us as a team. But we've not tried to put too much focus on sort of outside
02:49 noise, for lack of a better word. But yeah, we try to take motivation and inspiration from them. And
02:55 certainly their performance to get into another final provided us with an extra bit of oomph as
03:02 well going into tomorrow. Aidan, South Africa looks like in the mood of thrashing everything.
03:11 So other side, Bangladesh is struggling. So do you think this is the perfect time to meet
03:16 Bangladesh in this World Cup, according to the condition and the opponent's strength and
03:23 the performance? No, I don't think you can ever say it's a perfect time to play anyone. I think
03:30 we've all seen in this World Cup now that any team can beat any team on a given day. And if you don't
03:36 respect that fact, I think the game of cricket can really hurt you. So tomorrow is an opportunity for
03:44 us to take a bit of confidence that we took from England, but ultimately to try to replicate it.
03:50 That's the challenge and that's what we're striving towards. And if we bring the right
03:54 attitudes and the right intensities, we feel we give ourselves a good chance. It's never
03:59 a guaranteed result at the end of it, but it certainly aids us as a team to hopefully perform well.
04:04 Aidan, you're no stranger to captaincy, but I wonder how it was different the other night,
04:11 given the stage and the occasion. And then also there's a lot of guys out there for an optional
04:16 training session. What's going on? Yeah, the guys love hitting balls and bowling.
04:21 But I suppose that opportunity to captain the previous game is not down to how you'd
04:29 like things to happen. It was very unfortunate for Thimba and we obviously missed his leadership
04:35 on the field. But guys are here, they tend to always chip away at their games and improve.
04:40 I think that's why you see quite a few guys here. But I do certainly think our previous game here
04:47 was a bit of a rude awakening. We always knew it was going to be hot and humid coming to India in
04:51 general and especially Mumbai and places like Chennai. But it was quite brutal the other night.
04:58 Most of the guys have got their feet up, but there are still one or two just
05:01 ticking a few boxes and making sure that mentally they go into tomorrow feeling ready.
05:06 How is Heinrich Klassen shaping up? He looked out on his feet after his century the other day.
05:25 Yeah, he's good. He certainly was manned down. Like I mentioned, the conditions were pretty
05:31 brutal. He did a lot of hard work for us out there and I think it took quite a lot out of him. But
05:36 he pulled up nicely after the game. Obviously, the body was really sore and he was quite fatigued.
05:42 But he's been trying to get treatment and rest yesterday and very much so the same today in
05:49 order to get himself good. But as far as I'm aware, you'll do well to keep him off the cricket
05:54 field. He's quite a tough guy and he'll be itching to go again tomorrow, I'm sure.
05:58 How do you account for your relatively poor record against Bangladesh?
06:04 Where do you think they've caused you problems in the past?
06:06 I mean, they're a fantastic team. If you don't rock up on the day and your skills let you down
06:16 on the day against a team like Bangladesh, you will be put under a lot of pressure. So,
06:20 that's probably where we've got it wrong in the past. Naturally, they bring a great attack that
06:26 is well-rounded now. You can't just say they're going to bring fantastic spinners because their
06:31 seamen have done a great job in the recent past. So, they're a fantastic team and it's like I
06:38 mentioned, it's up to us rocking up here tomorrow, understanding what we need to do to get a good
06:44 result and trusting in the process that the coach and the captain has been driving.
06:48 Why do you think Klaasie struggled so much?
06:58 The other thing is, how does that recovery process look like?
07:04 You mentioned a lot of treatment. What does it entail?
07:08 Klaasie is a big sweater, so I assume it would play a role. But I think for anyone
07:17 in those conditions, it would have taken a lot out of him and it would have taken a day or two
07:21 to recover, most certainly. So, it's not his fault that he sweats a lot, but unfortunately,
07:27 that's what he does. He gets quite worked up out there in the middle. I'm sure we all saw that.
07:32 He's a competitor and he's really passionate about trying to do well for his country. I think
07:38 you combine all of those factors together and come the end of the game, I think you're quite
07:43 fatigued. The treatment and stuff he's been doing, obviously a lot of sleep. It's one of the most
07:51 important things and it's quite easy to do. But nutrition, massages, checking in with the physio,
07:57 those sorts of things are quite important. He's loading up his fuel tank and hopefully
08:04 he'll be in a good space to go again tomorrow. South Africa have not batted second too many
08:12 times in this World Cup, in this year actually. Chasing 200+ was also a while back for South
08:20 Africa. So, how do you prepare for that in the nets or in your team plans if that situation
08:28 comes up tomorrow? Because batting first, like you all showed us, is a high-scoring game and
08:32 the only time you batted second in this World Cup ended up in a loss against Netherlands.
08:37 Yeah, it's more of an approach where we're trying to see it as,
08:40 especially to get in as a batter, we're almost trying to approach it as if we're still setting
08:46 a target. Although we are chasing in the game itself to apply yourself as a batter and to get
08:52 yourself in, doing it the same way as you would if you were setting a target. And then once you're
08:58 feeling in, to try and understand the situation and what's required of you at that certain time.
09:06 We have batted a lot and we haven't chased a lot. So, it'll be a great challenge if we do get to
09:13 chase tomorrow and try and implement what we've been chatting about off the field.
09:17 Basically on your overall campaign, playing in the subcontinent conditions,
09:24 is your team more comfortable now playing in these conditions? How has that been an advantage?
09:28 Yeah, I mean, I think we're fortunate with quite a few guys now being involved in the IPL. So,
09:36 I'm having experienced the various grounds because each venue is quite different in terms
09:41 of conditions and having that experience now within the camp certainly helps us as a team.
09:46 I still think if you look at it generally, the wickets have been really good. So,
09:50 we expected to come here and the wickets play pretty well and plans and the build-up towards
09:56 this World Cup was with that in mind. So, that's pretty much where we're at. The experience of
10:03 IPL players I suppose has really helped and experience from guys in the management, the
10:08 coaching staff that have played a lot of cricket here in India or coached in IPLs has also helped
10:13 us a lot.
10:14 Aiden, Bangladesh captain Saki Valasan obviously didn't play in the last match and still unsure
10:20 whether he'll play tomorrow or not. So, how does the plan change for you according to whether he
10:26 plays or not?
10:29 Yeah, I think you do your homework on if he plays and then if he's not playing,
10:33 what does the combination of their team look like after that. So, you cover both those bases really.
10:38 Obviously, I understand that he's a fantastic player, really experienced and
10:43 a massive player for Bangladesh, there's no doubt about that. So, whether he plays or not,
10:50 we've addressed game plans and things like that that we as a team can try to implement tomorrow.
10:56 But whether he plays or not, we don't have too much of a role in that.
11:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]