Aiden Kyle Markram (born 4 October 1994) is a South African

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who is the current captain of the

South Africa national cricket team The South Africa men's national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council. T ...

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in September 2017. He is currently the captain of Sunrisers Eastern Cape of the SA20 league which was formed in 2022, who 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 till date, and was the Player of the Match.

T20 franchise career

Markram made his first class debut for

Northerns cricket team Northerns (formerly North Eastern Transvaal and Northern Transvaal) has played first-class cricket in South Africa since December 1937. Its territory is the area north of Johannesburg, including Pretoria. For the purposes of the SuperSport Ser ...

against South Western Districts on 9 October 2014. He was included in the

squad for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup. In 2016, Markram was club professional for Walkden in the Bolton Cricket League. In May 2017, Markram was named Domestic Newcomer of the Year at

Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa aka CSA is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South ...

'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, in October 2017,

initially postponed the tournament until November 2018, with it being canceled soon after. 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 the same 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 the Paarl Rocks team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament. In April 2021, he was named in Northerns' squad, ahead of 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 the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the

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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 Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

squad for their series against England, but did not play. In August 2017, he was named as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) squad ahead of the third match against Bangladesh, replacing Hashim Amla. He made his ODI debut for South Africa against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

on 22 October 2017, scoring 66 runs as well as taking 2 wickets. In December 2017, Markram scored his second Test hundred and became the first South Africa player to score two centuries in his first three Tests.

One Day International captaincy

In February 2018, South Africa's captain

Faf du Plessis François "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and among the best all-format ...

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. He, at the age of 23 years 123 days, is 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

squad for a two-Test series in Sri Lanka. Markram averaged just 10 with the bat in this series, his first overseas for South Africa, which showed a vulnerability against spin bowling. In August 2018, Markram was named in South Africa's

(T20I) squad for the one-off match against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, but he did not play in the fixture. In March 2019, he was again named in South Africa's T20I squad, this time for the series against Sri Lanka. He made his T20I debut for South Africa against

on 22 March 2019. In April 2019, Markram was named in South Africa's squad for the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

. In August 2019, Markram was named in South Africa's squad for the three

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. This series raised further questions about Markram's overseas performances, averaging just 10.50 in four away Tests, all in the

subcontinent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as in the case of A ...

. In December 2019, Markram was named in South Africa's squad for the four-Test home series against England. In the first Test, he scored 20 runs in the first innings and 2 in the second as South Africa beat England by 107 runs at Centurion. Markram however missed the remainder of the series after fracturing his finger. In January 2021, Markram was named in South Africa's

squad for their series against Pakistan. In the first test, Markram scored a patient 74 in a losing effort. In the second test, Markram made his first century in more than two and a half years, and his first in Asia. Markram finished as the leading run scorer in the series, averaging 56.75, however South Africa lost the series, their first Test series defeat against Pakistan since 2003. In March 2023, he was appointed as the captain of

South Africa cricket team The South Africa men's national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa. South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council. T ...

in T20Is, ahead of their home series against the West Indies. In October 2023 in a match against

, Markram scored the then fastest century in a men's

Cricket World Cup The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...

, reaching the milestone in 49 deliveries, a record later broken during the tournament by Australian batter Glenn Maxwell. He was dismissed soon after for 106 off 54. In May 2024, he was named the captain in South Africa's squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. He had a quiet tournament with the bat, but became the first ever Proteas captain to lead the team to the final of an ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. Unfortunately for him, South Africa lost in the final to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was named as the 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

* Named in ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year for the year 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Markram, Aiden 1994 births Living people South African cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century South African sportsmen Northerns cricketers People from Centurion, Gauteng Titans cricketers Durham cricketers South African expatriate cricketers in England Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Hampshire cricketers Paarl Rocks cricketers Cricketers from Gauteng Punjab Kings cricketers Sunrisers Hyderabad cricketers South African expatriate cricketers in India Sunrisers Eastern Cape cricketers Lucknow Super Giants cricketers