Pretoria: South Africa Captain Aiden Markram says his side can expect to have a goal on his back as they begin a new cycle of the World Cup (WTC) as defense champions.
South Africa plays a two-test series in Pakistan, starting on Sunday, and two matches in India in November when they offer to keep the trophy they won in June by beating Australia with five wickets at Lord’s.
The WTC is decided at the end of a two-year cycle where the top two teams compete in a one-day five-day match.
“I suppose you create a bit of a goal on your back if you’ve won (WTC), and if that’s the case, it’s fair. We’ll chase somewhere in the final again and lift that trophy again, but realize that each team is coming to us,” said Markram, who stands as a skipper for Temba Bavuma, who has been excluded from the tour with a calf stem.
“We as a team have to get better and improve and play well in all different types of relationships. It starts for us in Pakistan, and that is a challenge that boys will be ready for,” he told a press conference on Monday.
South Africa has been practicing specially prepared spinning paths at Pretoria’s High Performance Center.
“There were a few nets prepared where spin is really exaggerated and you’d rather fail on that side, and maybe it’s a little easier when we get to Pakistan,” Markram said.
“We expect to meet a lot of spin over there, and of course it is also much lower there from a nail point of view. There is a lot of skiddy, so it’s hard to try to emulate it here in South Africa, but we’ve been looking to put a lot of emphasis on finding a way to train for it.”
The first test against Pakistan is in Lahore and the second begins on October 20 in Rawalpindi.
