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Aiden Markram: South African Cricket Captain and Rising Star

Aiden Kyle Markram (born 4 October 1994) is a South African cricketer who is the current captain of the South Africa national cricket team in Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket. Markram had captained the South African under-19 cricket team to win the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In the 2018 South African Cricket Annual, he was named as one of the five “Cricketers of the Year”. Markram was described by former captain and batsman Graeme Smith as a future South Africa captain. He made his international debut for South Africa in September 2017. He is currently the captain of Sunrisers Eastern Cape of the SA20 league, which was formed in 2022, and successfully won the cup in 2023 and 2024. Markram was a member of the South African team which won the 2025 ICC World Test Championship final, the second ICC title the country has won to date, and was the Player of the Match.

T20 Franchise Career

Markram made his first-class debut for Northerns cricket team against South Western Districts on 9 October 2014. He was included in the Northerns cricket team squad for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup. In 2016, Markram was the club professional for Walkden in the Bolton Cricket League.

In May 2017, Markram was named Domestic Newcomer of the Year at Cricket South Africa’s annual awards. In August 2017, he was named in Nelson Mandela Bay Stars’ squad for the first season of the T20 Global League. However, the tournament was postponed and then canceled.

In October 2018, Markram was named in Paarl Rocks’ squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament. In March 2019, Markram signed for Hampshire County Cricket Club as their overseas player for the first part of the season. Later that month, Markram scored 127 runs in the final of the 2018–19 Momentum One Day Cup, to help Titans win the tournament.

In September 2019, Markram was named in the squad for Paarl Rocks for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament. In April 2021, he was named in Northerns’ squad for the 2021–22 cricket season in South Africa.

On 11 September 2021, Markram was included in the Punjab Kings squad for the second phase of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE. In February 2022, he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.

After successfully leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the first SA20 championship, Markram was appointed as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2023 season of the Indian Premier League.

International Career

Debut Years

In June 2017, Markram was named in South Africa’s Test squad for their series against England but did not play. In August 2017, he was named as captain of the South Africa A cricket team for their two four-day matches against India A.

In September 2017, Markram was named in South Africa’s Test squad for their series against Bangladesh. He made his Test debut for South Africa against Bangladesh on 28 September 2017.

Record-Breaking Start

After narrowly missing out on a maiden Test century on debut, Markram completed the feat in the second Test against Bangladesh on 6 October 2017, scoring 143 off 186 balls before being bowled by Rubel Hossain.

In October 2017, Markram was added to South Africa’s One Day International (ODI) squad ahead of the third match against Bangladesh, replacing Hashim Amla. He made his ODI debut for South Africa against Bangladesh on 22 October 2017, scoring 66 runs and taking 2 wickets.

In December 2017, Markram scored his second Test hundred, becoming the first South African player to score two centuries in his first three Tests.

One Day International Captaincy

In February 2018, South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis was ruled out of the last five ODIs and the T20I series against India due to a finger injury. Markram was named as South Africa’s captain for the remaining ODI fixtures in du Plessis’ absence, becoming the second youngest player to captain South Africa in ODIs after Graeme Smith.

2018–Onwards

On 30 March 2018, Markram scored his career-best score of 152 runs on the first day of the fourth Test against Australia.

In June 2018, Markram was named in South Africa’s Test squad for a two-Test series in Sri Lanka. Markram averaged just 10 with the bat in this series, showing vulnerability against spin bowling.

In March 2019, Markram was named in South Africa’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

2019 Series in India

In August 2019, Markram was named in South Africa’s squad for the three-Test series in India. Markram struggled in the first two matches of this series, bagging a pair in the second Test, before being ruled out of the third due to a self-inflicted wrist injury.

In December 2019, Markram was named in South Africa’s squad for the four-Test home series against England. He missed the remainder of the series after fracturing his finger.

2021–2025 Years

In January 2021, Markram was named in South Africa’s Test squad for their series against Pakistan. In the second test, Markram made his first century in more than two and a half years. Markram finished as the leading run scorer in the series, averaging 56.75.

In March 2023, he was appointed as the captain of South Africa’s cricket team in T20Is ahead of their home series against the West Indies.

In October 2023, in a match against Sri Lanka, Markram scored the then fastest century in a men’s Cricket World Cup, reaching the milestone in 49 deliveries, a record later broken by Glenn Maxwell. He was dismissed soon after for 106 off 54.

In May 2024, Markram was named the captain of South Africa’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament. He became the first ever Proteas captain to lead the team to the final of an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament, though South Africa lost in the final to India.

He was named Player of the Final in the 2025 ICC World Test Championship final as South Africa defeated Australia by 5 wickets to win their maiden championship.

Achievements

Markram was named in the ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year for the year 2021