Temba Bavuma stripped off South Africa's captaincy? Allan Donald reveals new captain

Former South African legend Allan Donald has asked for Aiden Markram to be named South Africa’s new captain across all 3 formats. The second season of the SA20 league is going on in South Africa and the defending champions SunRisers Eastern Cape (SEC) are hoping to repeat their success of last year under the leadership of Aiden Markram.

Following his title-winning run with SunRisers Eastern Cape, Aiden Markram was also named as the captain of IPL franchise SunRisers Hyderabad. He has tasted a lot of success as a captain and has always been a great leader on the field.

It is not just in the T20 leagues that Aiden Markram has flourished as a leader. Playing for South Africa at the international level, he’s led the Proteas on several occasions.

He was the deputy of Temba Bavuma in the 2023 ODI World Cup and used to lead the side whenever Temba Bavuma was unavailable due to fitness concerns. He has been projected as the next captain of the South Africa national cricket team and there is no doubt that he can take the side to great heights.

Former South African legend Allan Donald endorses the 29-year-old’s claim to take over the reins, especially in white-ball cricket. He talked about Markram’s potential as a leader and lauded his calm and collective nature on the field. Allan Donald also said that Aiden Markram has a natural leadership in him and already looks very experienced in terms of captaincy.

“He’s (Markram) been long talked about as a potential captain. There’s no doubt and even the CEO said that Aiden Markram is going to be the next South African captain, maybe in all three formats – not what really happens these days. Players, especially captains, take a lot of pressure on themselves, captaining all three formats,” Allan Donald said.

“In terms of white (limited-overs cricket), there’s no doubt (about him), I just love his demeanour. He (Markram) is calm, he is collected, and he looks like he has captained for a very long time. I think he just has it in him. He has natural leadership in him,” Allan Donald added.

Aiden Markram Can Also Lead South Africa In Tests, Says Allan Donald

Allan Donald, who played 72 Tests and 164 ODIs between 1992 and 2003, also feels that Aiden Markram is all set to take over South Africa’s charge in red-ball cricket. Temba Bavuma is the current skipper of South Africa in Test cricket but Aiden Markram has all the abilities to lead the side in all three formats.

He showed his potential against India in the recently concluded two-match Test series where he scored a magnificent century in Cape Town on a difficult track.

“Whenever he (Markram) has taken over in the white ball format from Bavuma, I think he’s done a fantastic job. I just think what he is doing in SA20 with aplomb, I just love the way he goes about, he has his way. I think captains come and go and South Africa needs him in all white-ball formats and maybe even as a Test captain. I think that he’ll be ready to do so. There’s no question about it,” Allan Donald said.

SunRisers Eastern Cape are third on the points table in the SA20 League with two wins in four matches suffering just one defeat and one match ending in no result. Aiden Markram led the franchise to the title in the inaugural season of the SA20 League and is also looking to defend the title this season.

Aiden Markram won the Under-19 World Cup as South Africa’s Captain in 2014 and first led the senior Men’s team against India in the 2018 ODI series after Faf du Plessis was injured.