Pretoria: South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram says that his team can expect to have a back goal when they start a new cycle of the World Testing Championship (WTC) as defenders.
South Africa plays a series of two tests in Pakistan, starting on Sunday, and two games in India in November while looking to retain the trophy they won in June by beating Australia for five Wickts in Lord’s.
The WTC is decided at the end of a two -year cycle, with the two best teams competing in a unique five -day match.
“I guess create a small goal on your back if you have won (the WTC), and if that is the case, it is fair. We want to pursue a place in the final again and raise that trophy once more, but they realize that each team will come for us,” said Markram, who gets in the pattern of Temba Bavuma, who has been accelerated from the tour with a tibia strain.
“We, as a team, have to continue improving and improving and playing well in all the different types of conditions. It begins for us in Pakistan, and it is a challenge that children will be,” said a press conference on Monday.
South Africa has been practicing in rotating wickts specially prepared at the high performance center of Pretoria.
“There were a couple of prepared networks where the turn is really exaggerated, and you prefer to err on that side, and perhaps then it is a little easier when we reach Pakistan,” Markram said.
“We hope to face a lot of turning there, and it is also, naturally, much lower from a sewing point of view. There is a lot of sliding, so it is difficult to try to emulate that here in South Africa, but we have been looking to put a lot of emphasis on finding a way to train for that.”
The first test against Pakistan is in Lahore and the second begins on October 20 at Rawalpindi.
