Aiden Markram (Photo Source: twitter)
South Africa had a fine campaign in the ODI World Cup 2023, as they made it to the semi-finals after winning seven out of their nine league games. They only lost to the Netherlands and India en route to the knockouts. Temba Bavuma’s men went down to eventual champions Australia in a low-scoring semi-final encounter at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Aiden Markram, who was one of the star performers for South Africa in their World Cup campaign, is in charge of the team that will face India at home in a three-match ODI series, starting with the first game on Sunday, December 17, in Johannesburg. The right-handed batter said that the hectic cricket schedule has forced most of his players to get over the heartbreaking World Cup defeat.
“It’s never nice to exit a World Cup like that. I thought we had something really good going, and that does filter into this team – from the good side of things,” Markram was quoted as saying by India Today.
“I would say most guys are over it. The nature of cricket nowadays is the schedule is so hectic you are almost forced to move on as quickly as possible so we are pretty much past it and looking forward to the series,” the 29-year-old added.
South Africa and India recently played a T20I series in the Rainbow Nation. The first game in Durban was washed out before the home side won a rain-curtailed encounter in Gqeberha by five wickets (DLS method). The third and final game in Johannesburg saw India win by a comprehensive margin of 106 runs.
The ODI series will be intriguing to watch as it will give the fans a glimpse of what the future could be like for the two teams, who have named quite a few fresh faces in their line-ups. KL Rahul will lead the Indian side that comprises four players who are yet to make their debuts in the ODI format.