Aiden Markram to continue opening for South Africa to fit in more power-hitters
South Africa captain
Aiden Markram
confirmed he will continue opening in the T20I team to accommodate more middle-order batters. With the three-match series against Australia tied 1-1, the decider will be played in Cairns on Saturday.
Markram enjoyed a strong IPL 2025 as an opener for Lucknow Super Giants, scoring five half-centuries in 13 innings at a strike rate of 148.82. However, he has not crossed fifty in T20Is since October 2022.
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"Going through our squads and the players that we've got around, we think probably that (opening) is the best fit. We've got some guys in the middle order that are a lot more destructive than I am, and we feel probably it's better off for me and Ricks (
Ryan Rickelton
) to be up top.'
'I did it a bit at the IPL and am starting to do it now again at international cricket. It's an exciting role. It's always nice to bat in the powerplay, and the focus is to get the team off to good starts," Markram told reporters on Friday.
His opening stands with Rickelton in the series have been 12 and 34. While number three Lhuan-dre Pretorius is yet to find form, Dewald Brevis provided a boost with an unbeaten 125 in the second T20I.
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Markram also provides an off-spin option and has occasionally taken the new ball, including dismissing Travis Head in the second match in Darwin. "It's very much a feel thing. It's quite a daunting task. You just see the ball flying nowadays, and I'm not so sure I really want to be a bowler.
"But there'll be occasions where you feel like the wicket might be on the slower side or might offer something, and you sort of take that punt.
The way I try to operate is just go on my gut feel, whatever my gut's telling me in the moment, run with that and back that and reflect on what could have been and what should have been possibly after the game," he said.
With South Africa having won only one of their last nine bilateral T20I series, including losing the tri-series final to New Zealand, Markram is eager to turn the tide. "It feels like we are moving in the right direction. The series so far has been good. The bowlers have been pretty good for us.
'The previous game made our batters look good, but it was very much an individual performance (Brevis hit an unbeaten 125). So a nice challenge for our batters tomorrow to hopefully click and for them to put on a good score."
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