Aiden Markram is back to enjoying his cricket and this is evident in his recent purple patch for the Titans, writes Khalid Mohidin.
It has been a difficult couple of months for Markram who after breaking his hand during the India tour, took his time away from the game to reset his frame of mind. Hand-in-cast, he was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as a new regime started at Cricket South Africa with Mark Boucher taking the reigns.
This would be tough for any player, as you witness other players playing in your position and playing well.
But Knowing Aiden, however, he doesn’t let things that are out of his control interfere with his mentality. He put his head down with his focus on doing the hard yards to earn his way back into contention, starting with domestic cricket.
After some rehab and training, he made his return to the Titans but went out for 36 on his return. He followed this up with a century against the Knights, and then another just two games later against the Lions.
“It’s exciting times, and I’m excited to be back on the park and playing in games of importance in trying to make the knockouts”, said Markram exclusively to Cricket Fanatics Magazine.
“I’m happy that I’m back to the old Aiden in the sense that I’m enjoying the cricket – playing with a refreshed mindset.”
Talking about his two centuries he scored recently for the Titans, Markram continued to reveal his mentality – he has always been a “team-first” kind of guy, and that hasn’t changed.
“The runs are always nice, but the first hundred came at a losing cause,” said Markram.
“So it didn’t mean too much. I still believe I should’ve scored a really big hundred to put us (Titans) in a position where we could have won the game. So I took some lessons from that.
“With regards to the second hundred, it was nice to get a win. Naturally, we’ve been struggling for results and it was nice to play sort of a scrappy game, on a tough wicket, and get over the line.”
The Titans have a chance of making the playoffs if they win their remaining games, and Markram is determined to help the team get there.
If his form continues, it will be difficult for anyone to rule him out of a Proteas return. But with just one more ODI series left (against India) before the West Indies tour, his focus should be to find his way back into the Test set-up.
Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
