Aiden Markram Career, Records, Awards, Biography & More
Aiden Kyle Markram (born 4 October 1994) is a South African cricketer and current captain of the South Africa national cricket team in Twenty20 International cricket. and captained the South African Under-19 cricket team and won the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He was named one of the five cricketers of the year in the 2018 South African Cricket Annual. Markram was described as a future South Africa captain by former captain and batsman Graeme Smith. He made his international debut for South Africa in September 2017.
T20 Franchise Career
Markram made his first-class debut for the Northerns cricket team against South Western Districts on 9 October 2014. He was included in the Northerns cricket team's squad for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup. In 2016, Markram was a club professional for Walkden in the Bolton Cricket League.
In May 2017, Markram was named Domestic Newcomer of the Year at the annual Cricket South Africa Awards. In August 2017, he was named in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stars squad for the inaugural T20 Global League season. However, in October 2017, Cricket South Africa initially postponed the tournament until November 2018, after which it was canceled shortly afterwards.
In October 2018, Markram was named in the Paarl Rocks squad for the inaugural edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament.
In March 2019, Markram signed with Hampshire County Cricket Club as an 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, helping the Titans win the tournament.
In September 2019, Markram was named in the Paarl Rocks team's squad for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament. In April 2021, he was named in the Northerns squad ahead of the 2021–22 South African cricket season.
On September 11, 2021, Markram was included in the Punjab Kings squad for the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in the UAE. In February 2022, he was purchased by Sunrisers Hyderabad as part of the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.
After successfully leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape to their first SA20 Championship, Markram was appointed captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2023 Indian Premier League season.
International Career
Debut Years
In June 2017, Markram was called up to South Africa's Test squad for the series against England, but did not play. In August 2017, he was named 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 the series against Bangladesh. He made his Test debut for South Africa on September 28, 2017 against Bangladesh.
Record-breaking start
After narrowly missing out on his maiden Test century on debut, Markram accomplished 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 included in 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 October 22, 2017, scoring 66 runs and two 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.
Captain of One Day International
In February 2018, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was ruled out of the last five ODIs and the Twenty20 International (T20I) series against India due to a finger injury. Markram was appointed South Africa's captain for the remaining ODI matches in du Plessis's absence. At 23 years and 123 days old, he is the second youngest player to lead South Africa in ODIs after Graeme Smith.
2018–Present
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 the South African Test squad for a two-Test series in Sri Lanka. Markram averaged just 10 with the bat in this series, his first overseas game for South Africa, which showed a vulnerability to spin bowling.