With the anticipation and excitement simmering ahead of the Proteas opening ODI match against Sri Lanka tomorrow, Aiden Markram is looking to play an anchoring role within the team – a duty that has engendered significantly more clarity for him.

Markram has had somewhat of a splintered career thus far for the Proteas, having performed particularly well in the T20Is and Tests, but less so in the ODI format.

The 26-year-old has racked up an average of 39.60 in 26 Tests and 32.50 in 12 T20Is, but his ODI median stands at a below-par 26.80 in 31 games, resulting from the uncharacteristic dips he suffered in the last couple of years which dented his figures.

Ahead of the forthcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, which is set to kick start in Colombo, Markram said he has learned to simplify his game and to be more mindful of his role in relation to the overall objectives of the team.

“The role I’ve been given now is a bit clearer to me – it’s on my shoulders so I understand it better,” Markram told Cricket Fanatics Magazine.

“That will hopefully help; obviously there are no guarantees, but in the past I think I got frazzled quite quickly out in the middle.
“As you’ve seen with white-ball cricket nowadays, people don’t want to tap the ball around for too long and they [rather] get on with it quite quickly.

“[But] that works for some and not everyone and I’ve learned that the hard way. It’s now about spending more time out there, while understanding that towards the back end you can catch up.”

He added what is more important in terms of the strike rate is the rate you finish the innings with, not the rate you had while building up to the conclusion. After all, a 50-over innings is a long day out and a lot can happen in its duration.

“That’s probably one of the biggest learnings I’ve taken, so it’ll definitely be about spending more time at the crease, but not in any negative way.

“[It’s about] taking it a little deeper and putting the team into a strong position before taking the game on, and not taking it on too early like I did before.”

This notion of “taking it deeper” particularly correlates with how Markram, an opener, aims to adopt a sensible approach to the series while needing to adapt to the trickier and heavier Sri Lankan conditions.

“Naturally, the Power Play is probably the best time to bat here, [especially] if I look back at what the stats have said. You don’t want to neglect that phase of the game – it’s really important to be at a high intensity during that Power Play.

“I wouldn’t say we’d need to get off to a super-fast start, but ultimately if it’s the nicest time to bat we’ll have to look for the odd boundary here and there, because everything suggests that it will probably get tougher throughout the innings.

“In these conditions, you don’t want to find yourself five or six down with 15 to 20 overs left of the innings.

“[Instead], you’d rather delay those risk-taking options and sort of back yourself to score your runs at the end, even though the wicket will probably be tougher and the ball softer. If you have your batters in, then we as a team would be giving ourselves the best chance.

“The conditions are a polar opposite of what we have back home, but it will be an exciting challenge,” he said, adding that various players have been “working hard” on their approaches while providing different options and “growing their games”.

“It’s ultimately [about] being confident of tapping into those options if need be on game day,” he said.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge that the guys have given their best in terms of their preparation.”

Markram has been thriving in the T20I format of late, which comes at the right time since South Africa are set to play their last T20s before the World Cup against Sri Lanka in a three-match series starting on September 10.

With this series serving as their last ‘trial’ before the world showpiece, Markram has lauded the contributions that skipper Temba Bavuma has made regarding their build-up, especially in terms of batting with a clear conscience.

“Temba has been brilliant in terms of encouraging the brand of cricket he wants to play – he’s been very clear. So for us as batters that provides a lot of clarity in developing game plans,” Markram said.

“That’s helped quite a bit and naturally the brand of cricket is super positive. We’re looking to take the game on as much as we can, while also having that clever side to it and being streetwise.”

He added that they could reap some confidence from the West Indian series whereby the “surfaces weren’t allowing” for 200-plus scores.

“I think it might be quite similar here, so you almost have to be as positive as you can be in whatever conditions you get given.

“Those are the kinds of conversations coming from the coach and Temba. For me personally, I just focus a lot on my intensity at the crease when I’m playing T20 cricket.

“There is clarity in terms of game plans and what is expected of us as players from Temba and the coaching staff.”