3 reasons why Aiden Markram could become the next de Villiers
The cricketing world is still in shock after news broke that AB de Villiers had retired from international cricket. South Africa Cricket would be particularly disappointed with the news and will feel that their World Cup plans have been set back.
This has left the Proteas in the difficult position of finding someone to fill the gap which de Villiers leaves behind. It will be impossible to replace the man as he is definitely a once in a lifetime player, but as we saw Virat Kohli rise up to the challenge for India, we could find the same happen for South Africa as well.
South Africa's summer season has seen them unveil yet another batting sensation. At just 23 years of age, Aiden Markram has stepped up to the international level in dramatic fashion and has served as the perfect batsman to partner Dean Elgar at the top of the batting order for the Test side.
An aggressive batsman by nature, Markram has smashed his way to four test centuries in just ten test matches - and the young man from Pretoria has shown no signs of slowing down.
His career-best score of 152 against Australia in the fourth test at the Wanderers has seen the international cricket community take note of the young man with Markram making headlines for his incredible knock.
The maturity with which he plays makes it seem as if though the young man has been with the South African side for ages. However, he only made his debut against Bangladesh at the beginning of the 2017/2018 season.
That said, there is much that the world still does not know about the star batsman and in this article, we look at three freasons why Aiden Markram which might just become the next de Villiers.
#1 First South African captain to win a World Cup
This might sound unbelievable but Aiden Markram is, in fact, the first South African captain to win a World Cup, although it was at the under-19 level.
During the under-19 World Cup, Markram captained his side to triumph, brilliantly leading a team that consisted of star bowler, Kagiso Rabada, and Proteas all-rounder, Andile Phehlukwayo.
It is clear that South Africa have captaincy plans for Markram to lead the ODI side in future. He was appointed as captain of the squad In the recently concluded ODI series against India, and though South Africa experienced a heavy series loss to India, it is clear that South Africa were looking at their long-term prospects and plans for the young man.