Why Markram’s absence could be a blessing in disguise for South Africa

There’s a lot of hype around South Africa’s young prodigy, Aiden Markram. Having led the under-19 team to a World Cup win in 2014 - the only South African captain to lift a World Cup, Markram was handed the ODI captaincy quite early into his career on a temporary basis. The experiment came apart dramatically and Markram’s limited-overs career derailed. In Tests, though, he has been a constant presence at the top.

Recently, he was ruled out of the final Test of the series against India at Ranchi and it could indeed be a blessing in disguise for both Markram and South Africa. While his overall numbers read as 1402 runs in 19 Tests at an average of 40.05, a deeper dig shows that most of Markram’s big runs had come early in his career.

In 2017, Markram averaged 95 with the bat in four innings, making two tons and one half-century. 2018 and 2019 have been average for the opening batter, averaging 33.6 and 31.8 with two tons and five half-centuries in all.

The question around Markram is also about his ability to play well on turning surfaces. He has played only two tours – including the India tour – outside home but the numbers are in stark disagreement to his home record.

All of his 10 scores of 50 or more have come at home. Away from home in eight innings, Markram has just 84 runs in all at a shocking average of 10.5.

In South Africa, Markram has an average of 48.8 with four tons. Away from home in Sri Lanka and India, Markram has struggled and not just against spin. In this series, twice he was dismissed by pace while in Sri Lanka all four times he was dismissed by Rangana Herath.

As South Africa look to save face in India, Markram might not be the ideal candidate to open. Had he been available – and not punched a solid object – Markram would almost certainly have opened given that South Africa don’t have any back-ups.

Even his overall record shows that he is a first-innings batsman. Three of his four hundreds have come in the first innings. In the other innings, Markram has not even crossed 300 runs in total.

Read: Cricket South Africa urges supporters to be patient

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Marco Longari