Aiden Markram on Test hundred after comebackMy biggest emotion is sense of relief

By India Today Sports DeskAiden Markram could not hold his emotions back as he hit a Test century after being dropped by South Africa last year.

The 28-year-old was overlooked against England and left out of the tour of Australia. Markram, however, was recalled to a revamped South African side for the home series against West Indies.

Markram seized his opportunity on the first day of the first Test as he scored 115 at his home, Centurion. When he reached his hundred, Markram became teary-eyed and admitted that he had thoughts about whether his Test career had ended.

“You do go through moments where you doubt yourself and wonder if you’ll ever get the opportunity again,” Markram said after South Africa reached 314/8 at stumps.

“I’ve always loved test match cricket, red ball cricket and was grateful that the coach and the captain backed me and for the day to work out the way it did.

“I think my biggest emotion was that sense of relief, knowing that you can still compete in this format at this level. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were moments of luck here and there. But just grateful it worked out.”

Markram, who now has six Test hundreds, was dropped when he had a Test batting average of 34. But his free-flow attack in limited-overs cricket and leading the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to SA20 triumph helped him regain his confidence.

“I suppose it might have helped a bit from a confidence point of view,” Markram said of his form in white-ball cricket.

“I think the way the game is going now, you’d rather be positive and not reckless, but you still want to take the game on and express yourself as much as you can. And I think when you get a bit tentative, you can sort of dig an unnecessary hole for yourself.”