Certain phases can change a player’s career, and this might be Aiden Markram’s moment.
Some players frustrate you, not because they fail, but for their unfulfilled potential. They show flashes of brilliance from time to time, but hardly achieve anything close to what they should. Aiden Markram is one such player.
Virat Kohli was right with his assessment when he labelled Markram a “delight to watch” seven years ago. From then on, his career trajectory hinted at a phenomenal rise, one that would justify his remarkable talent. But as it turned out, he is still figuring his way out after all these years, battling people’s expectations and his own.
Aiden Markram’s career has been showcasing his superior talent in patches but not consistently. He has played a few outrageous knocks in his Test career, whether 143 in Durban in 2018 or 106 in Cape Town in 2024. There are a few others, including 108 in Rawalpindi in 2021.
He has as many as three centuries in the fourth innings, a feat not many can boast of. But other than those occasional performances, his Test career has mostly been about missed opportunities. Despite these unforgettable knocks, his averages still hover around 37, which doesn’t justify his talent.
59.52% of his career innings have ended at a score of 30 or below, and only 25% have seen a score of 50 or more. A player of Markram’s calibre is expected to ace various conditions home and away, but his away numbers are abysmal. After 31 innings outside South Africa, he averages a mere 25.23 and has only five 50+ scores, compared to an average of 43.17 and sixteen 50+ scores at home.
These numbers tell that he doesn’t score often, even if he has played a few knocks to remember. Sure, batting has been the toughest in his era, but that’s where his talent was supposed to stand apart. Greats like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith performed everywhere during their peaks.
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When Aiden Markram plays, there’s always uncertainty about which version will turn up. Fortunately for South Africa, the right one stepped up when they required it the most in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final. That too in the fourth innings, again.
The conditions eased, which must have played a role, but conditions and the opponent have never been an issue for Markram. He is just too good to thrive only in flat conditions, which has been proven time and again. Anyway, there was some uneven bounce, even if the lateral movement had diminished.
This time, he was determined to prove previous stats and perceptions wrong. He didn’t overtry things; he just played on the merit of the ball and was active from the start. He raced away to his fifty in just 69 deliveries and added another 50 in 88 balls to complete one of his finest knocks of his career.
He used soft hands to punch the ball through the off-side and played late to adjust for lateral movement. Similarly, he used the depth of the crease and played off the back foot against Nathan Lyon, which allowed him to deal with the uneven bounce. Obviously, the slowness of the track negated the turn, but Markram would deliberately play with an open blade to allow himself to access the off-side region.
Markram has hardly looked as convincing as he did during this innings, given the quality of the bowling attack and the occasion. He has often succumbed in such situations previously, be it the World Cup 2023 semifinal or the T20 World Cup 2024 final. His counterattacking knock was one of the reasons why Temba Bavuma, who was half-fit, could ease into his role and stitch a vital partnership.
Certain phases can change a player’s career, and this might be Aiden Markram’s moment. This might take his career to unprecedented heights, where he was always supposed to reach. Maybe this might help him realise his true potential.
This has been a fruitful year for Markram. He had his best IPL season and batted the best he has ever had in T20s. His strike rate was high, and he was still consistent.
That he has continued his fine work in the longest format indicates better days lie ahead for one of the finest talents in world cricket. Markram has spent most of his career understanding his game when he should have been at his peak by now. However, this might be the moment to take that big leap.
And that will also help South Africa. This knock has proved that he must step up for the Proteas to overcome their big-match nerves, but that’s for the future. For now, Markram and South Africa will sit back and cherish this moment, a welcome contrast to the bitterness of past setbacks.
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