Aiden Markram

Working under the guidance of Mark Boucher, Markram rebuilt his game in first-class cricket and averaged over 50 in the 2017 season. A calm, compact opener who favours the off side, he pairs a sound defence with a broader range of strokes than South African top orders have usually shown. His Test debut came at home against Bangladesh, where he made 255 runs in 3 innings. He then ground out a hundred against Zimbabwe in the four-day Boxing Day Test and scored 94 at Newlands as South Africa regained the Freedom Trophy against India.

2018 brought highs and lows. With Faf du Plessis injured, Markram took charge of the limited-overs side against India in February, becoming, at 23 years and 123 days, South Africa's second-youngest captain after Graeme Smith. A month later he hit a career-best 152 against Australia in the 'Sandpapergate' series. Tours of Sri Lanka in 2018 and India in 2019, however, exposed problems against spin. He still edged out Reeza Hendricks for a late place in the 2019 World Cup squad, and later found a valuable role in the white-ball middle order.

At the 2023 ODI World Cup in India he scored 406 runs in 10 innings as South Africa reached the semi-finals. As captain he took the Proteas to the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup and the semi-finals in 2026.

In franchise cricket he joined Punjab Kings in 2021 and Sunrisers Hyderabad the next year, then led Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title, finishing third on the run charts and taking useful wickets, before guiding them to a second straight crown. His 2023 spell as Hyderabad captain ended with the side last, and Pat Cummins replaced him for 2024. Bought by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 2 crore in 2025, he opened alongside Mitchell Marsh and made 445 runs in 13 innings at 34.23, with a strike rate of 148.82 and five half-centuries.