London: Aiden Markram hopes South Africa’s ICC World Test Championship Final win over Australia has silenced any doubters and consigned their ‘chokers’ tag to history.
Markram’s superb 136 earned him the Player of the Match prize in the showpiece at Lord’s and will go down as one of the most important knocks in the history of South African cricket.
The 30-year-old opener took his side to the brink of the winning line, falling with his side six runs shy of completing the job, as they lifted their first major ICC trophy since 1998.
Markram has been part of several of the near misses – he was on the losing side as captain in last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final – which made this success all the sweeter.
“I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night and how helpless I felt after getting out,” he said.
“That gave me motivation to make sure I stayed at the crease. It was all about getting the job done," Markram said.
“This is as big and tough as it gets. All the questions that have been asked in the past have fortunately now been answered," he said.
“It would be great to not hear it (chokers) again, that’s for sure. To get rid of that tag is a big thing for this team,” Markram said.
Markram reached three figures late on the third evening but that did little to ease his nerves with 69 runs still needed heading into Saturday’s play.
He admitted he slept ‘horribly’ and ‘couldn’t switch off’ as the adrenaline of scoring a century in a match of this magnitude began to hit home, with Markram cutting an emotional figure when he raised his bat.
“The game slowed down a bit, I had time to look around and see fans, my family, my mates in the stands, the changing room,” he said.
“I thought ‘we are here now, we are getting close’. It caught me off guard," Markram said.
“The hundred happened and tears leaked out, which I was trying to fight. Nothing has hit me today just yet, but something needs to hit me soon as it has been a rollercoaster,” he said.
Markram’s 147-run third-wicket stand with captain Temba Bavuma broke the back of the chase, which is the joint second-highest successful Test match pursuit at the Home of Cricket.
Bavuma was visibly troubled by a hamstring injury but played through the pain barrier to steer his side towards their target, with Markram full of praise for his skipper.
“To see his hammy go was worrying but when we got to tea, we chatted and he said he felt he could keep going,” he said.
“He wanted to know from our side if twos becoming ones would affect me. I said no chance, it’s about the partnership, getting the ball softer, and that’s exactly what he did – and he still managed to run twos and threes," Markram said.
“He showed a lot of adrenaline, a lot of leadership and character,” he said.
A second sleepless night could be on the cards for Markram this evening for different reasons, with the opener spotted drinking a well-earned beer handed to him by a schoolmate in the crowd as South Africa embarked on a lap of honour.
But the man with the apt birthplace – Centurion – will have plenty of time to reflect on his career high point and hopes the achievements of his side inspire the next generation.
“I’m not here to chase numbers and stats, I just really want to win stuff for South Africa,” he said.
“Test cricket has always been my favourite format and the most important," Markram said.
“It’s really important to keep Test cricket as the number one in South Africa. It’s more about the young guys coming through, we want their main thing to be getting a Test cap for South Africa, he said.
“The number one priority should always be to play Test cricket. I’ve always believed that and if we get that through to the young people, we’ve done well,” Markram added.
