Opposition captains getting asked about Virat Kohli and the plans to stop him is nothing new in cricket, but what took South Africa captain Aiden Markram by surprise was the nature of the question about the former India captain. Before the India vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados, Markram was asked whether his team is wary that Kohli has yet to manage a significant score in this tournament.
“Are you worried about the fact that Virat Kohli is yet to score in the tournament – big final, we all know what a player he has been. Any plan and are you worried of the fact that he has not scored runs in the tournament?” a reporter asked the South Africa captain in the pre-match press conference.
Markram was taken aback by the question. He had a wry smile on his face before regaining his composure to come up with a terrific answer. “I don’t think it worries me,” Markram said before going to add that the Indian side is full of great players like Virat Kohli, who can change the game single-handedly.
“He’s a great player, as we all know. But they’ve got their whole batting units full of great players. And cricket’s a game of ups and downs. You’re not always going to do well, especially as a batter. So, we just do our planning, do our preparation from a meetings point of view for planning towards those batters and hopefully on the day we can get that right,” he said.
In his new role as an opener, Kohli has registered scores of 1, 4, 0, 24, 37, 0, 9 in this T20 World Cup. The tournament’s all-time leading run-getter has been full of intent at the top of the order but it hasn’t translated into results. If ever India needed Kohli to stand up for match, it has to be the World Cup final on Saturday.
South Africa will have their own demons to overcome. This is their maiden appearance in a men’s World Cup final. Markram promised to treat it like just another game.
“Probably just see it as a new game of cricket, to be honest. We all know India’s a great team. Us as a team, as South Africans, have been sort of trending in the right direction the last couple of years, but maybe not progressed in tournaments as far as we would have liked. So, an exciting occasion tomorrow against a good opposition in India, but a nice opportunity for us as the proteas as well,” he added.
