Dean Elgar reflects on Aiden Markram’s future in Test cricket

Aiden Markram and Dean Algar (PC: Twitter)

South African Test team has come under the scanner following a horrible performance against England. The three-match Test series saw the Proteas losing by 1-2. The visitors did well in the first Test as they won by an innings and 12 runs. The Englishmen bounced back in the second Test to score a victory by an innings and 85 runs.

The final Test of the three-match series saw the Proteas being subjected to a lot of criticism and scrutiny for their torrid batting performance. The host ended up with just 118 and 169 runs. The middle-order batter Aiden Markram was dropped from the playing XI during the Kennington Oval Test.

The batter has displayed a lukewarm form in the purest format of the game for quite some time now. In the first two Test matches, he registered scores of 16, 14, and 6 runs. Overall, the 27-year-old has featured in 33 Test matches scoring 2009 runs at an average of 34.05.

The skipper backs the middle-order batter

Following the exclusion from the Test team, the cricket analysts and fans are predicting an end to Markram’s career in the longest format. However, skipper Dean Elgar has backed the right-hander to have a bright future in Test cricket. The captain wants Markram to go back to domestic cricket and prove his credentials as a red-ball batter.

Dan Elgar said as quoted by IOL,

“I think Aiden still has a bright future in Test cricket, he just needs to get numbers behind him. He is still too young and too talented not to be playing at this level. I know he’s still very hungry to play this format. But runs are our currency as batters. When he gets the opportunities to play four-day games he’s got to nail it, like he’s done in the past when he’s gone back to four-day cricket.”

Mark Boucher on Aiden Markram

Meanwhile, South Africa’s head coach Mark Boucher also reflected on the future of Markram. The exclusion of the middle-order batter has raised a lot of eyebrows in the cricket fraternity. Since no Proteas batter has done well during the England tour, fans are questioning the punishment for Markram.

Speaking about the same, Boucher reckoned,

“You can back guys who aren’t scoring if there are guys around them who are and if you are winning Test matches. You want to back players, but if you are not scoring runs as a batting group then those low numbers are going to stand out, and that’s exactly what happened with us.”

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