‘We’d like to think we’re…

Shortly after a shocking 7-run loss in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram put on a brave face at the post-match press. While he is understandably bitter at the loss, Markaram confirmed with confidence at the future of South African cricket.

Having been brought down at the semifinal stage in most of their World Cup campaigns, the T20 2024 series came as a gust of fresh air for the Proteas as they had an eight-match winning streak as they made it to their first ever final. Unfortunately for South Africa, they had to face defeat again.

“Hopefully it’s one step closer,” said Markram. “It’s tournament cricket, it’s tough cricket, its not easy to win trophies and you’ve go to take your hats off to a team like India for lifting the trophy. A lot of hard work goes into it. But yeah, we’d like to think we’re one step closer and hopefully moving forward we can get that first win and it can be a snowball effect of quite a few to come.”

“A great group of guys that’s been together for quite a long time now. Get to our first final, like I mentioned a few days ago, it’s something we can be proud of. Still, in our eyes, not good enough. You’re not satisfied with making a final, but still, I think it’ll take a bit of time for us to reflect back on all the good things that we’ve done, but obviously for the time being, it just hurts a lot.”