Aiden Markram is the new T20I captain for South Africa as they are set to fact West Indies in three matches later this month. JP Duminy has been appointed as their batting coach and Rory Kleinveldt as the bowling coach.
Why Markram?
Markram led the Under-19 South Africa team to the World Cup back in 2014. He then recently led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who won the inaugural SA20 title. He will also lead the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the upcoming IPL which definitely makes him a suitable one for the captaincy role in the national T20 side.
Rob Walter, South Africa’s white-ball coach said in Johannesburg, “Aiden has shown himself to be a leader over a period of time now. Obviously, his most recent success for the Sunrisers [Eastern Cape] stands out so it seemed like just a logical progression into the leadership of the national side.” Walter added, “He has been there before but I think he’s matured a lot as a player and as a leader since then.”
Bavuma dropped
Temba Bavuma, former captain of the side, on the other hand, has been dropped from the squad and will now concentrate on his role as captain of Test and One Day Internationals. He had a poor 2022 as a T20I player and also failed to take the side to the semi-finals in 2021 and 2022 editions of the World Cup. Regarding Bavuma, Walter said, “It was purely a T20 performance-based decision,” Walter said. “My job now is to work with him to get him back into the side. That’ll certainly be one of our focuses.”
ODI squad (first two matches): Temba Bavuma (captain), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams, Rassie van der Dussen.
T20 squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs.
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