Aiden Markram warns not to overthink World Cup as Proteas jet to India

South Africa jetted off to India yesterday to finalise preparations before their first match of the tournament against Canada a week from today.  

The Proteas reached the final of the last T20 World Cup in Barbados but lost to India, and the skipper says they must play what’s in front of them and forget the past.

"You don't want to – I mean, yes, it is a World Cup but you don't want to blow too much out of proportion. You've got a job at hand on the cricket field, and if you can get yourself in that frame of mind to do that job well then I think we give ourselves a good chance," said Markram.

"So we'll see what is waiting for us on that side from a conditions point of view, obviously that's going to be a lot of the chat now, and we'll come up with the plans from there."

Despite losing their final T20I to West Indies here at home on Saturday, the Proteas won the series 2-1 and Makram says that will help the team’s confidence, along with standout individual showings during the SA20. 

"I think what we can take from that is obviously quite a bit of confidence, and if you look throughout the SA20 as well, the guys have been doing really well and putting their hands up for their respective teams, and winning games of cricket for their teams," he noted.

"That's obviously what you need at a World Cup, so guys can take that moving forward and from this series, I think role definition was maybe nicely refined for us and guys get a much better understanding, so I think that's a big positive as well.

"And when you get that side [in India and Sri Lanka] you pick a team based on the conditions, that can hopefully win you the game."

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