Aiden Markram Willing To Become South Africa Test Captain But Not Desperate For The Job

Aiden Markram has said that while he would give an “arm and a leg” to captain South Africa in Tests, he is not desperate to take charge of the team. South Africa are yet to announce their next Test captain after Faf du Plessis stepped down from the post earlier this year.

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s director of cricket, has already said that ODI and T20I captain Quinton de Kock would not be made the Test captain to make sure that the wicketkeeper-batsman is not overburdened with responsibilities.

With de Kock now out of contention, Aiden Markram is the front-runner for the job. And while he is definitely interested to take the job, he also made it clear that he would be fine even if any other player is named du Plessis’ replacement.

“It is just nice to be considered and I’d give an absolute arm and a leg to be able to do it, but in the same breath I don’t want to become desperate about it,” Aiden Markram said in an interview released by Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday.

“It’s one of those things where if it were to happen it would be amazing. But if not, there are plenty of good leaders within the environment that will definitely take the team,” he added.

Aiden Markram is no stranger to captaincy. In 2014, he had led South Africa to victory at the 2014 Cricket U19 World Cup, and had been tipped by Graeme Smith as a future captain for the senior side. Speaking about captaincy, he said that he loves taking responsiblities.

“I really enjoy captaincy,” Markram said. “I enjoy the responsibilities that come with it. I have been able to watch from franchise captains to a guy like Faf and it is just something that I would love to do.”

But for the time being, the right-handed must be worried about his inconsistent run in international cricket. He has not really managed to do well in the last 12 months. The opener averaged above 45 in his first 15 tests, but in the next five managed only 183 runs at an average of 18.30. He had a spell on the sidelines after injuring his hand when he struck a wall following a pair of ducks in India last year.

“I have certainly doubted myself and doubted my abilities,” Markram said. “At the top level, you’re just a few bad knocks away from people wanting you out of the team. I doubted myself quite a bit this last year.

“It’s a tough space to be in but it comes with the territory and if you want to be a top performer at a high level, you’ve got to find ways to deal with it,” he added.

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