Aiden Markram - South Africa - Batsman

A young prodigy who shot through the ranks, Aiden Markram was a flamboyant stroke-maker from an early age and rose to fame after he had a dream run as captain of South Africa and led them to the U-19 World Cup title.

Having been picked on a selection whim after unimpressive numbers in the lead-up to the tournament, he repaid the faith of the selectors and contributed handsomely to end the tournament as the Proteas’ highest run-scorer and lifted the cup in a nation frustrated and haunted by the c-word. Markram looked confident from the outset - when asked to list three words that best described him, he mentioned ’Positive, confident and responsible,’ and he went on to live up to it in the tournament.

However, after being touted as the next 'big thing' in South African cricket, form and consistency deserted him, resulting in more consistent players edging him out for a few years. Injuries did not help his cause and Markram seemed to have lost his spark completely. Like the stereotypical superstar losing his way, he seemed to be seeing an early decline. However, with age on his side, and some tough competition in the national circuit, Markram continued to work on his game to make it to the national team.

With great composure and focus, and a crafty-yet-airtight technique which he can adjust as per the situation, Markram has a calm head on his shoulders and the confidence to go with it. Primarily an off-side player with a compact opener’s technique, Markram brings a wider repertoire of shots to a generally conservative South African top-order.

An apprentice of Mark Boucher, Markram slowly started to redeem himself at the first-class level and raised his game to a whole new level, averaging over 50 in the 2017 season. After a streak of consistent performances, a virtue that had eluded him in the past, Markram, at long last, made it to the Test fold when he was called up for the England tour in September 2017.

He received the coveted Test cap for the Proteas in the home Tests against Bangladesh and had a dream series, scoring 255 runs in 3 innings and ended the series with an average of 255. In the historic 4-Day Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe, he exhibited old-school grit and determination against a probing Zimbabwean attack on a seaming Day 1 track, and stroked his way to a chance-less hundred after the pitch flattened out. He started off well against India in the home series in 2017/18 with a 94 in the Newlands Test and laid the platform for victory that helped South Africa regain the freedom trophy.

2018 was a tumultuous year for Markram. In February, Markram found himself leading South Africa in a limited-overs series against India following an injury to regular skipper Faf du Plessis. Aged 23 years and 123 days, Markram became the second youngest to captain South Africa after Graeme Smith. In March, he struck a career-best 152 on the first day of the 4th Test against Australia in the infamous ‘Sandpapergate’ series. The tours to Sri Lanka in 2018 and India in 2019, however, saw Markram’s fortunes turn for the worse. His weakness against spin was exposed and his form deserted him.

Nonetheless, in 2019, he made the final 15 cut for South Africa’s World Cup squad at the last minute. He and Reeza Hendricks were both fighting for the back up openers spot and it came to Markram as a combination of his runs in the domestic 50-over competition and Hendricks' failure to score big runs in the national team.

With age on his side and a potentially long career ahead of him, Markram has burst onto the international arena with renewed focus, the intent to score big and to avoid repeating the mistakes he made in the past. Despite having the fundamental requirements as an opening batsman and possessing a good blend of defensive technique and aggressive strokeplay, Markram failed to cement himself as the first choice opener in limited overs cricket. However, deemed to be too good to be left out, Markram was crammed into the middle order, a position from where he has since had a massive impact.

Markram’s performances and all-round impact in limited-overs cricket did not go unnoticed. In 2021, he bagged an IPL contract after he was bought by the Punjab Kings. In the following year, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad and later the same year, he was drafted into its sister-franchise, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape for the inaugural season of the SA20. That tournament was in many ways the coming of age of Markram the captain. He not only led the franchise to the title but also finished as the tournament’s third-highest run-scorer all while picking up some crucial wickets with ball in hand. Markram’s success saw him being appointed as the skipper of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2023 but things didn’t quite go as smoothly as they did back at home for Markram and his side finished at the bottom of the table.

In early 2023, Markram was appointed as the full-time captain of South Africa’s T20I team.