Aiden Markram to lead South Africa A against India A

22-year-old Aiden Markram has been picked to lead the South Africa A side against the against India A in the 2 unofficial Test matches which are scheduled to kick off on 12th August. Markram has a plethora of experience as the captain and the batsman has already proved his abilities as a skipper. He led the South African U-19 team to their World Cup triumph in 2014.

Markram has been with the senior team for a while now as he was included in the side as a replacement for skipper Faf du Plessis. Du Plessis missed the first Test at Lords due to the birth of his first child and Markram has not left the company of the senior players since then to get a hint of the senior team set up.

“This is a very important series after the disappointing Test match against the England Lions earlier this year. This is a golden opportunity for the players to show what they can do under conditions they know well against a testing opposition,” said Linda Zondi, CSA selection convener on Saturday.

Background:

Markram was identified as a bright future prospect for the national side long ago. Cricket South Africa had kept him in contention for the role of the captain in future because of his capabilities as a leader. Markram made his mark when the South Africa U-19 team lifted the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup under his leadership back in 2014, defeating Pakistan in the final by 6 wickets.

He was terrific with the bat in the tournament scoring 370 runs at an average of 123. The player was awarded the man of the Series award for his dominance with the willow. Andile Phehlukwayo and fast bowler Duanne Olivier, who featured in the second and the fourth Test against England, have also been named in the squad for the two four-day games.

South Africa A squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Stephen Cook, Junior Dala, Beuran Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Duanne Olivier, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dane Piedt, Omphile Ramela, Rudi Second, Jason Smith, Shaun von Berg, Khaya Zondo.

India A squad: Karun Nair (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), PK Panchal, Abhinav Mukund, Shreyas Iyer, Ankit Bawne, Sudip Chatterjee, Hanuma Vihari, Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Aniket Choudhary, Ankit Rajpoot.