South Africa savour subcontinent high after a decade’s wait | Sports

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t still matters. Winning away from home affairs. Victory in subcontinental affairs. Doing both of those things is all the more important for a country that is now seen as one of the smaller Test nations, as South Africa has just experienced.

Don’t buy into the idea that it’s just Bangladesh, a place where South Africa have never lost a Test, and look at the bigger picture. The subcontinent has been impregnable for the past ten years. Between September 2014 and September 2024, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies played a total of 35 series in the subcontinent and won only six. Of these, England were responsible for three series (Sri Lanka 2018 and 2021 and Pakistan 2022) while South Africa lost all four series played.

To finally be able to turn it around is something that South Africa’s stand-in captain Aiden Markram succinctly described as “very special” while acknowledging its importance as a sign of his progress. To work on.

“For us as a group of players, we’ve never won a game or a series in the subcontinent which makes it very special. It’s been a tough journey at times and slowly progressing has been really good for us. is.” he said.

It still matters. Winning away from home affairs. Victory in subcontinental affairs. Doing both of those things is all the more important for a country that is now seen as one of the smaller Test nations, as South Africa has just experienced.

Don’t buy into the idea that it’s just Bangladesh, a place where South Africa have never lost a Test and look at the bigger picture. The subcontinent has been impregnable for the past ten years. Between September 2014 and September 2024, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies played a total of 35 series in the subcontinent and won only six. Of these, England were responsible for three series (Sri Lanka 2018 and 2021 and Pakistan 2022) while South Africa lost all four series played.

To finally be able to turn it around is something that South Africa’s stand-in captain Aiden Markram succinctly described as “very special” while acknowledging its importance as a sign of his progress. To work on.

“For us as a group of players, we’ve never won a game or a series in the subcontinent which makes it very special. It’s been a tough journey at times and slowly progressing has been really good for us. is.” he said.

South Africa last conquered Asia in 2014, at the end of a dream run that saw them go nine years unbeaten on the road. At the time, Markram was captaining the U-19 team to the age group title in the UAE and the future looked bright. They didn’t know it then, but things were already changing.

Big-name retirements began in 2013 with Jake Kelce, and every year since then someone else deemed essential to success has retired. As recently as last December, former captain and great opener Dean Elgar called it a day that meant South Africa had been in transition for nearly ten years. The subcontinent became an unlikely place to win as South Africa played in India in 2015 and 2019, Sri Lanka in 2018 and Pakistan in 2021. Of course, it is not as if the SENA countries did not use their domestic advantage. For decades they had nothing to complain about, but that didn’t lessen the damage.

South Africa’s batting has paid the highest price. Since May 2018, they have had a single Test batsman with an average of over 40 including all of the current squad. Tony De Zorzi, with his 177, and David Bedingham, with 135, are close behind but both have played only eight Tests.

This meant South Africa didn’t often have hundreds, which they had to play and Markram is still singing from that hymn book.

“As far as the numbers go, it’s all quite relative. You look at the different levels you play at, the wickets around the world are very different and there are a lot of different challenges. you face as a batsman so it can be difficult to pump up that average but we don’t talk about numbers,” Markram said. “We just talk about impacting the game and there will be times when scoring 60 or 70 is match-winning and then there will be times when big hundreds are match-winners.”

The latter was the case in this regard. From Kyle Vereen in Mirpur to De Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Vian Mulder in Chittagong, South Africa’s win was built on big runs that gave their attack a lot to work with. And while there is some sense in what Markram said that an individual scoring hundreds doesn’t necessarily equate to a successful team, he also acknowledged the need for collective improvement in performance.

“I’m definitely not too worried about the numbers and I don’t think the rest of the boys are either. It’s one of those things that will take care of itself if you keep putting in good performances. The numbers naturally go up. We’re all definitely aiming for that but trying to be more consistent and have a good impact on the game.

With South Africa’s batsmen focused on efficiency rather than their run volume, it was hardly surprising to hear that the leader of their attack, Kagiso Rabada, also downplayed his importance. Asked in the post-match interview about getting back to No. 1 in the ICC rankings or taking 300 wickets, Rabada said the game is moving forward. “You’ve got to keep working hard. Don’t look at where I’m in the rankings,” he said, admitting it’s “a good motivator to keep going.” His greatest admiration came from his teammates, who he said were “willing to put their hands up” to drive success.

And they can see the rewards right in front of them. Despite playing fewer Tests than almost anyone else this cycle, they are likely to make it to the finals. They consider the ability to do so to be highly probable. “We don’t really know what the ceiling is because we haven’t been able to lift the trophy,” Markram said.

It is also a way for South Africans to look at their empty appreciation cupboard and wonder if it will ever be filled. They have taken the view that the things they are capable of are still to come and this year has shown them.

They reached the T20 World Cup final in June and now the chance to reach the WTC final is in their hands. It’s proof that something is working, that the talent pool is starting to play up to its potential and maybe, the impossible is becoming possible.

“We believe we have players in the country who are capable of doing it but it’s not going to be easy by any means,” Markram said. “The journey itself has been incredibly tough but worth the fight, worth the hours, worth the sacrifice. That’s how we see it.”- Cricinfo