Aiden Markram excited to be back in Proteas camp ahead of WI series

South Africa is getting ready to take on the West Indies in a T20 Series, with the first match taking place tomorrow evening in Paarl. This will be part of their preparations for the World Cup in India and Sri-Lanka from next month, and Markram believes this will help them get used to playing together again and shift their mind-set back to international cricket.

"It's a nice series to get back into the groove. Obviously it's a bit different to the SA20, and it's nice not just to get the rust away, but to get back and settled in camp."

READ: Alzarri Joseph misses out on West Indies' T20 World Cup squad with injury

The skipper says while they want to test different combinations and finally settle on their line-up for the T20 World Cup, they’re still playing the series to win it. The Proteas last played on December 19 when they lost the T20 series against India 3-1, and will know the importance of a winning feeling ahead of a major tournament.

Cricket SA last week announced a couple of changes to the squad necessitated by injury, and Markram was gutted for the players missing out. Tony de Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira have been replaced by Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs, while the jury is still out on David Miller’s fitness.

"The tough part is chatting to the guys that are missing out. You look at a guy like Tony [de Zorzi], he's been working so hard to get to a World Cup, something he's always wanted to as a player. His white-ball form of late has been somehting that's really excited us. He was doing everything he could to get on that plane, but unfortunately sometimes it's just how the cookie crumbles, and you're not ready in time. Those are the conversations that are quite hard as a captain."

Stubbs will come into the national team camp with the highest confidence after leading the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to their third SA20 title in four years. The first two of those titles were led by Markram, and he was happy for Stubbs on his captaincy and hitting form at the right time.