South Africa captain Aiden Markram on Sunday said his side enters the T20 World Cup with renewed confidence and belief following their historic World Test Championship (WTC) victory last year.

Runners-up in the previous edition, the Proteas begin their campaign in the 20-team tournament against Canada at the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.

South Africa defeated Australia in the WTC final in June 2025 to secure their first major International Cricket Council (ICC) title, a milestone that helped shed their long-standing “chokers” label.

Pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada recently highlighted a shift in how South Africa are perceived at global tournaments, a view Markram echoed while addressing reporters.

“It does feel that way — the belief, confidence, and that monkey off the back all play a role in the language and behaviour within the camp,” Markram said. “The WTC trophy definitely gave us belief and confidence as a group.”

However, the skipper cautioned against complacency, stressing that success in one format does not guarantee an easy path in another.

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“You don’t come here thinking it’s suddenly going to be easy. We still have to be at our best,” he added.

South Africa endured heartbreak in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, falling seven runs short against India after needing 30 runs from the final five overs.

Placed in Group D alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Canada, Markram acknowledged the growing competitiveness of associate nations in the shortest format.

“The gap between Associate nations and the other countries has become much smaller,” he said. “In this format, it only takes one or two players to have a really good day for an upset to happen.”

Early signs of that unpredictability were evident on the opening day of the tournament, with Pakistan narrowly escaping defeat against the Netherlands, while defending champions India recovered from 77 for six to beat the United States.