IND vs SA | Aiden Markram ruled out of the ongoing T20 series

South Africa batter Aiden Markram will miss the remaining T20s against India after being ruled out of the first two games.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) officially announced the unavailability of Markram. CSA release stated that even after completing his 7 days isolation period, the Proteas batter will not be able to complete his return to play program in time.

"Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the remainder of the IND vs SA T20I series. The Proteas batsman spent 7 days in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 last week and will not be able to complete his return to play program in time for the last 2 matches," said Cricket South Africa in a release.

After featuring in the first T20I, a hand injury had ruled out the wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock from the second and third T20I of the series. Reeza Hendricks replaced him at the top of the order.

"Wicket-keeper batsman, Quinton de Kock, has made a marked improvement in his recovery from a wrist injury. The Proteas' medical staff will continue to assess his progress and make a decision on his availability for match four in due course."

Markram returned a positive COVID-19 test on June 9 2022, just before the start of the series. After landing in New Delhi on June 2, he and the rest of the South African squad cleared the first phase of testing. But he later tested positive for the virus. Tristan Stubbs replaced him in the first T20I. While Heinrich Klaasen played in the place of Stubbs in the last two games.

In the IPL 2022, the stylish right-hand batter enjoyed a productive season with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as he crafted multiple match-winning knocks for the franchise. Markram hammered 381 runs in 14 matches at an average of 47.63 and maintained a strike rate of 139.05. He was the second-highest run-getter for the 2016 IPL winners behind Rahul Tripathi.

It will be interesting to see whether de Kock has fully recovered from his hand injury. If he is fit and available for selection, de Kock will straight away walk into South Africa playing XI in place of Reeza Hendricks for the fourth T20I in Rajkot.