IPL 2023: Can Markram the Machine rule?
Aiden Markram has won the U19 World Cup in the past and the inaugural SA20 season as a skipper of Eastern Cape, which may have prompted Sun Risers Hyderabad to name him as captain. He is also the Proteas T20i captain ahead of other seniors. But can he work the trick for SRH?
Speaking to the SRH YouTube channel, teammate Mayank called Markram a fantastic cricketer and said that he was known as ‘The Machine’ in his time at the Punjab Kings where the two played together.
“He is a great guy. Apart from being a fantastic cricketer, he is a great guy. So that tells you a lot about him. I call him the machine, and that’s for a reason. Somebody who works really hard on his game, who really thinks a lot about his game, and who is genuinely a great guy, and who has a very happy and relaxed vibe around him, ” Mayank told SRH’s YouTube channel.
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Agarwal is hoping the tandem can click at SRH.
“I am really looking forward to playing under him because we had a bond when we played for Punjab. I’m really looking forward to building on that when we play now for SRH.”
After chasing down a world record score against West Indies, the Proteas lost 7 runs in the third T20 to lose the series. “It was a good game in the end for the neutral watcher. We let ourselves down with the bat a little. We fell a few runs short at the end of it. Have to give the bowlers credit for the way they responded after Sunday,” Markram said after the match on which Alzarri Joseph took a five-fer.
“There was a stage where we would have wanted to wrap it up for 160-170. Barring the last three overs, we were really good. Anything under 200 was the goal. 220 was perhaps par. To lose is not great but we are on the right path and good to see the boys respond in each game,” the 28-year-old added.
“It was thoroughly enjoyable. Challenging at times but the team is on a journey and it is a good sign to see the boys responding game after game,” Markram said of his captaincy.
SRH who rebooted, moving away from David Warner and Kane Williamson, are hoping the South African can bring them the title.