Virat’s desperation to win at any cost a lesson: SA captain Markram

CENTURION: Despite smarting from the humiliating series loss, South Africa’s young captain Aiden Markram gave a huge compliment to his opposite number, saying Virat Kohli wants to win at all costs. “His (Virat’s) desperation to win games for his side is massive, and that’s why he conducts himself like he does. It’s all from a competitive point of view, it’s nothing malicious.

“That desperation is shown when he bats --- he doesn’t just get his side close to the line, he gets them over it, as we saw again tonight (in the sixth ODI). So, there are a lot of things I can learn from him. There are a lot of things I can learn from their team as a whole… I’m taking little pieces from here and there,” said Markram.

Showering more praise on Kohli, Markram said, “He made a massive difference. He’s obvi- ously in incredible touch and showing it. His hunger for runs and desperation to finish games is up there with the very best, and that’s why he is one of the best players in the world. He’s been one of the differences and their spinners have also played a massive role. But he’s had a great series and credit must be given where it is due.”

On a personal front, the SA skipper said that he agreed with coach Ottis Gibson’s views that he hasn’t been able to play his natural game. “He’s (Gibson) got full right to say that just by watching with the naked eye. I wasn’t playing the usual game I play, and whether that was due to pressure or not being in the zone or in the moment, is probably the reason. He’s spot on with what he says,” added Markram.

Admitting that he seemed to have wilted under pressure, Markram said, “Look there’s a lot of pressure. As an individual, I set standards for myself, and not having done well this series, there was that form of pressure as well. So, there are various forms of pressure --captaincy is just one of them. But, like I mentioned, it is pressure I enjoy and I’d like to enjoy it more in the future.”

While the bowlers hadn’t been able to take wickets up front, South African batsmen have let the team down. Like Amla on Thursday, Markram too felt the batsmen had to be blamed more for the loss.

“As a batting unit, we haven’t paced our innings well. Faf did it well in the first game. But since then we haven’t constructed our innings well as a unit.”