South African opener Aiden Markram is looking forward to facing various challenges in his maiden Test series outside of South Africa, as the Proteas prepare for the first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Galle on July 12. Markram has amassed as many as 1,000 runs at an average of 55.55 in his first 10 Tests, all at home, as he helped his team to series wins against India and Australia earlier in the year.

But in eh subcontinent conditions, Markram acknowledged that it will be an altogether new challenge. Talking to the reporters on Thursday, he said, “I would like to do well this tour because it is outside of South Africa. You don’t want to be labeled as a guy who only does well in home conditions. We tried our best before we came here to simulate the conditions of how we think it is going to play. At home, the wickets do get lower in winter compared to summer, so that naturally helped us.”

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The veteran fast bowler Dale Steyn is making a come back in the squad after two years of injury setbacks and he needs just three more wickets to break the all-rounder Shaun Pollock’s South African record of 421 Test wickets.

Markram says that while it is a major milestone for one of cricket’s greatest pacers, it has not been a topic of discussion in the camp. He said, “Dale in any conditions is great to have back in the camp. He brings a wealth of knowledge, a good energy and a buzz to the side. With the ball in hand, he is one of the best in the world. Dale is the kind of guy that puts the team as his sole focus. He has not mentioned it (the record), nobody else has mentioned it. We will keep it in the back of our minds because it is a great achievement, but Dale is the kind of guy that will just brush it under the carpet and keep on playing for the team.”

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South Africa will also play their first test series since the retirement of their star cricketer AB de Villiers, but Aiden believes there is enough depth in the squad to cover the loss. He said, “It is never nice to lose a player like AB, the quality we lose is a massive hole to fill. But having said that we have got plenty of depth within our system at home and we have guys on this tour who can play the same sort of role.”