"Delight to watch" - When an Indian legend heaped praise on South Africa's 2025 WTC final batting star Aiden Markram

South African batter Aiden Markram made the most of the excellent batting conditions on offer on Day 3 of the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia on Friday. The right-hander showed outstanding application and combined caution with aggression to put Australia on the back foot in the second innings.

Markram made his Test debut in September 2017, and a few months later, the right-hander found praise from former India captain Virat Kohli. The 36-year-old had posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that Markram was a delight to watch.

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"Aiden Markram is a delight to watch," Kohli had written in March 2018.

The 30-year-old had responded to Kohli's appreciation for him, saying that the Indian batter was one of the players he looked up to. Markram added that Kohli's competitiveness was something worth admiring.

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“It’s quite a special feeling. There are a lot of players that I look up to who are a bit older than me and he (Kohli) is one of them. His competitiveness is something to admire and his motivation to keep scoring runs is something I’ve tried to take on board," Markram had said in 2018 (via Indian Express).

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Aiden Markram brings out his A game to put South Africa on top in 2025 WTC final

Chasing 282 runs for a historic win at Lord's, South Africa lost Ryan Rickelton for a mere six runs in the second innings. However, Aiden Markram, first with Wiaan Mulder and then captain Temba Bavuma, began to put the building blocks in his side's pursuit of the score.

The right-hander combined caution with aggression superbly to ensure that Australia had to put in the hard yards to get wickets on the third day. He put on 61 runs for the second wicket with Mulder and anchored the innings with an injured Bavuma to put his side in the driver's seat. At the time of writing, South Africa were 204/2 in 53 overs.

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