It’s fair to state that Aiden Markram’s recall to the Proteas Test side wasn’t met with universal approval. The feeling persists that Markram is the ‘teacher’s pet’ of South African cricket; that the boyish good looks, the saucy cover drive, that he won the under-19 World Cup, has seduced selectors and coaches and kept him in the national team longer than should have been the case. Social media is a minefield when Markram is the topic. So now he avoids it totally. “A couple of years ago I decided to get off Twitter and not read anything on there. I’ve binned social media. Whatever you don’t read you can’t look into it,” he said on Tuesday evening after scoring 115 — his first Test century in two years — on the opening day of the first Test against the West Indies at SuperSport Park. “After having a tough day, in my opinion there’s no point in reading any more negative things people send to you. If you don’t have access to it, you are prevented from seeing it. I think that is how things can be made to look worse than they actually are at the time. “A few bad innings and you feel like the worst player in the world because you are reading into what everyone has to say. Each to their own, some people have thick skin and don’t look into it too much, but I just felt there is no point reading it, because it is not doing any good. ” It’s not that Markram is one of those entitled athletes. He believes the national selectors were completely justified in their decision not to pick him for the tour to Australia earlier this season. “Things work out weirdly at times. I was obviously hurt not to be in Australia but having spoken to the selectors I was happy with their reasons. As batters, we need runs on the board and if you are not scoring runs in a team that wants to be the best in the world your position should be under scrutiny. ” The downward trend for Markram started at his home ground last season. He was mesmerised by Mohammed Shami — one of the great spells by a visiting bowler — in the last Test that was played here in December 2021. That messed with his mind and the supposed second coming of Markram, which culminated in a Test century in Rawalpindi in February 2021, quickly unravelled. He would not have played in New Zealand had Keegan Petersen not contracted Covid-19 before that tour; he was horrible in England, playing one awful shot in the first innings in Manchester and looked lost in the second innings of that Test. He was dropped for the Oval and wasn’t picked at all to tour Australia. Then came the SA20, where Markram was handed the captaincy of the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and after that team had started slowly, he helped turn around their fortunes leading them to the title. He was named player of the tournament and a few days later, the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise, named him captain for this year’s IPL. Still, Shukri Conrad in some circles — admittedly on social media — was seen as another who was seduced by what Markram could become. Conrad was clear however that Markram had his backing and that he would open the batting. “One of the coach’s biggest strengths is he is clear in his messaging and you always know where you stand,” Markram said. A combination of that support from the new Proteas head coach, the confidence he got out of the SA20 and adapting to the new positive approach put Markram in a good space before this series. “It’s to be able to back your options and if it doesn’t work out, but it’s one of your strengths, there will be no questions asked,” he said about the more liberated approach being encouraged by Conrad and Temba Bavuma. “The mindset is to look to score, if it's in your area, if it is your option, there’s no worries if it doesn’t work out. You have to marry into that, the attack you are facing, the conditions on the day, but trying to take the situations of play out of the moment and just play to your strengths and back those. ”.