Temba Bavuma ruled out due to illness; Aiden Markram named South Africa's stand-in skipper for the first Afghanistan ODI

With regular skipper Temba Bavuma being ruled out of the upcoming ODI series opener against Afghanistan, Aiden Markram has been announced as South Africa's stand-in skipper. The Proteas' T20I captain will lead the side in the opening game of the three-match ODI series on Wednesday, September 18.

All three fixtures are set to be played at the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium, which will host its 250th ODI on Wednesday. The second game has been scheduled for Friday, September 20, and the third and final ODI will take place on Sunday, September 22.

The last time these two sides faced each other, South Africa emerged victorious in the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup semifinal clash in Trinidad. They eventually finished the tournament as runners-up, losing the title decider against India by seven runs at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Nqaba Peter, Andile Simelane, and Jason Smith have earned their maiden ODI call-ups to the South Africa squad. Speedster Lungi Ngidi, who missed the T20I series against the West Indies last month due to a right calf injury, has made a comeback to the set-up.

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South Africa to face Ireland after Afghanistan ODIs

After the ODIs against Afghanistan, South Africa will be up against Ireland in two T20Is, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series. Both the T20I and the ODI series will take place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan were recently in Greater Noida to host New Zealand for a one-off Test match which unfortunately was abandoned without a ball being bowled after five days of incessant rain.

The match was supposed to be the first-ever Test match to be held at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the eighth game in Test cricket history to be abandoned without a single delivery being bowled.

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