South African cricket is undergoing a renaissance with their Test skipper Faf du Plessis giving up captaincy and Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, stating that Quinton de Kock will not be given the duties like in limited-overs cricket because of workload concerns. This leaves a rather inexperienced Proteas side with very few options on the captaincy front.

Read | Du Plessis quit as captain after one of his career's 'toughest' seasons

With that in mind, we look at four possible leaders for the Proteas in red ball cricket.

Dean Elgar

Having experience in leading the side before, Dean Elgar is South Africa's most glaring choice on the captaincy front. A gritty opener with natural leadership qualities, Elgar is probably as close to Graeme Smith, a successful Test captain, as it comes, and the Proteas might not think twice before handing him the job.

However, what could work against Elgar is his age and current form. More of a blip for the last couple of years, South Africa will want someone with more future in the role now that they are rebuilding.

Temba Bavuma

The incumbent ODI vice-captain, Temba Bavuma's career has been marred in controversy several times. The fact that he comes from a black background means his name would almost always be coupled with the ‘quota�?tag despite him justifying his position as a player.

A flamboyant batsman and a natural leader, Bavuma is a fine choice on the captaincy front but it is likely that the Proteas could face some backlash if that were to happen. Given that Bavuma isn't in the best of form either, this could also be a risky choice.

Rassie van der Dussen

At 32 years old, Rassie van der Dussen ought to be more experienced at the international level. Yet, he is only one series old in the format but could well be in line for a huge promotion on the job front.

Read | Four best Test knocks in the 2010s

Van der Dussen has played just four Test matches and moving him up to captain the side could be a big risk. But Graeme Smith himself took over without much captaincy and international experience and it turned out to be a brilliant decision for Proteas cricket.

Smith hinted at being open to taking a calculated risk on the captaincy matter in Test cricket and van der Dussen could fit the bill perfectly. His age isn't ideal but then again, with few options before them, the Proteas might be willing to compromise on that front.

Aiden Markram

Once hurried into the leadership role in limited-overs cricket, Aiden Markram struggled and lost form. His Test exploits have been brilliant so far and his talent is there for everyone to see. But he remains a home player primarily and his record against spinners and in Asia makes him really vulnerable to take on additional captaincy duties.

Markram perhaps needs to focus on his batting to truly realise his potential. South Africa need Markram to be their big batter across all formats in the next decade and burdening him with captaincy now could turn out to be a double-edged sword. They might ponder taking the plunge but it sure comes with dire consequences.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Christiaan Kotze

South Africa’s opening batsman, Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the ongoing England series owing to a fractured finger.

The 25-year-old, who scored 20 in South Africa’s first innings in the ongoing first Test, picked up the injury on the fourth finger of his left hand on Day 2 while fielding. While he continued to stay on the field, scans revealed he requires a surgery, which means he is ruled out for at least six weeks.

"Aiden sustained a fracture affecting the distal joint of his left ring finger," Dr Shuaib Manjra, Cricket South Africa Chief Medical Officer, said.

#BreakingNews Proteas opening batsman, Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series against England after sustaining a fracture to his fourth left finger.The injury will require surgery and will remove him from play for at least six weeks.#SAvENG #Thread pic.twitter.com/zLwfwL4Fhu

�?Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) December 28, 2019

"After consulting with a number of hand specialists yesterday, we arrived at a decision that the best outcome would be achieved through surgical reduction and fixation. This would mean him unfortunately missing the rest of the series against England. We feel for Aiden who worked extremely hard to come through his previous hand fracture sustained in India to be Test match ready."

Markram was considered a doubt for the England Test prior to the game after he fractured his wrist by "lashing out at a solid object" after his second innings dismissal in the second Test against India in Pune back in October. That not only resulted in him missing the third Test in Ranchi, but he also missed the Mzansi Super League.

South Africa scored 284 in the first innings of the Centurion Test courtesy of Quinton de Kock’s 95. A brilliant effort with the ball then allowed the Proteas to restrict the World Cup winners to a pantry 181, with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada picking four and three wickets respectively. 

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Marco Longari

There’s a lot of hype around South Africa’s young prodigy, Aiden Markram. Having led the under-19 team to a World Cup win in 2014 - the only South African captain to lift a World Cup, Markram was handed the ODI captaincy quite early into his career on a temporary basis. The experiment came apart dramatically and Markram’s limited-overs career derailed. In Tests, though, he has been a constant presence at the top.

Recently, he was ruled out of the final Test of the series against India at Ranchi and it could indeed be a blessing in disguise for both Markram and South Africa. While his overall numbers read as 1402 runs in 19 Tests at an average of 40.05, a deeper dig shows that most of Markram’s big runs had come early in his career.

In 2017, Markram averaged 95 with the bat in four innings, making two tons and one half-century. 2018 and 2019 have been average for the opening batter, averaging 33.6 and 31.8 with two tons and five half-centuries in all.

The question around Markram is also about his ability to play well on turning surfaces. He has played only two tours �?including the India tour �?outside home but the numbers are in stark disagreement to his home record.

All of his 10 scores of 50 or more have come at home. Away from home in eight innings, Markram has just 84 runs in all at a shocking average of 10.5.

In South Africa, Markram has an average of 48.8 with four tons. Away from home in Sri Lanka and India, Markram has struggled and not just against spin. In this series, twice he was dismissed by pace while in Sri Lanka all four times he was dismissed by Rangana Herath.

As South Africa look to save face in India, Markram might not be the ideal candidate to open. Had he been available �?and not punched a solid object �?Markram would almost certainly have opened given that South Africa don’t have any back-ups.

Even his overall record shows that he is a first-innings batsman. Three of his four hundreds have come in the first innings. In the other innings, Markram has not even crossed 300 runs in total.

Read: Cricket South Africa urges supporters to be patient

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Marco Longari

A year ago, Aiden Markram was thrust into a captaincy role for the ODI series against India. Still relatively inexperienced at the international level, Markram was brutally exposed as India thumped South Africa in the ODI series in their own backyard.

An under-19 World Cup winning captain, Markram was always earmarked as a future leader, but by handing him a role he wasn’t prepared for at the highest level, the Proteas shattered his confidence. Something else also played a role in his quick jolt to reality after a honeymoon period in international cricket �?his frailties against spin.

Super consistent at the domestic level, Markram was struggling to match his own form for South Africa and even if there were the odd sparks of brilliance like in the Test series against Australia last year, consistency deserted him. He was dropped from the ODI side a while back and needed an extraordinary run of form in the domestic One Day Cup to force his way into the World Cup team.

But in England, Markram disappointed again. This has been the tale of Markram’s career so far. Standout domestic performances overshadowed by inconsistent return in national colours.

As the India Test series beckons, Markram remains a key figure in South Africa’s plans. He is set to open the innings alongside Dean Elgar and was sent on a spin camp to India and later involved in the South Africa A matches against India A.

Markram was dismissed cheaply in either innings in the first unofficial Test for South Africa A at Trivandrum but made a spectacular 161 at Mysore in the following unofficial Test. What’s more heartening is that he was dismissed by pacers in all three innings and survived a potent spin attack that India A possess.

Markram, a tall batsman with a solid technique, was brutally exposed in the series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, the only Test series he has played outside South Africa. He made scores of 0, 19, 7 and 14 on that tour and was dismissed by Rangana Herath all four times. In the ODIs, he continued his wretched form and made 0, 3 and 20 in the three matches he played �?this time worked over each time by Akila Dananjaya, the ball turning away from Markram on each occasion.

This has been an Achilles Heel for Markram, one of the most solid next-gen South African batsmen. On this India tour so far, he has encountered Jalaj Saxena, Kuldeep Yadav and Shahbaz Nadeem, all high-quality left-arm spinners. However, he has countered them with much more confidence than before.

In the warm-up game against Board President’s XI, Markram retired hurt after making a 100 at a strike rate greater than 80 on day two. The opener is certainly in a fine frame of mind ahead of the Test series. In Ravindra Jadeja, he has a potent threat awaiting him, but Markram seems to be ready for the big challenge ahead.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Gianluigi Guercia

Aiden Markram hit an unbeaten 67 to put South Africa in a dominant position before floodlight failure ended the fifth and final one-day international against Sri Lanka at Newlands on Saturday.

Rodger Bosch / AFP

South Africa won by 41 runs according to the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method when no further play was possible. The hosts were on 135 for two after 28 overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 225 all out.

The win clinched a 5-0 series clean sweep for South Africa, continuing a horror run for the tourists. It was their fourth whitewash defeat in a five-match series in less than two years.

Markram was the night's big winner. Left out of South Africa's one-day team for the first eight matches this year, he was recalled for the final two matches of the Sri Lanka series on the back of outstanding form in domestic games. Saturday's innings seems certain to ensure that he is part of South Africa's squad for the Cricket World Cup later this year. He was named man of the match.

It was another poor performance by Sri Lanka despite a half-century by Kusal Mendis, who made 56, and an adventurous partnership of 61 off 53 balls between Priyamal Perera and Isuru Udana.

Sri Lanka fell three balls short of batting out a full 50 overs, continuing a sequence going back to October 2018. The only time in their most recent eight matches when they were not bowled out was in the rain-shortened third match of the current series when they were well short of the required run rate when play was halted.

Mendis played a measured innings in making his second half-century of a series in which none of his fellow top-order batsmen reached the 50 mark. He was needlessly run out after a mix-up with Priyamal Perera in the 35th over at a time when he could reasonably have been expected to start accelerating. He faced 84 balls and hit three fours.

- Rare De Kock failure -

Udana, the only other Sri Lankan to hit a half-century in the series, again made a lively tail-end contribution, hitting 32 off 29 balls before he and Priyamal Perera fell off successive deliveries from Kagiso Rabada in the penultimate over. Rabada finished with three for 50.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir, in his final one-day international in South Africa, took two for 33, while fast bowler Anrich Nortje took two for 35.

Sri Lanka made a good start in the field when South African opening batsman Quinton de Kock flicked Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga to deep square leg after scoring six. It was the first failure of the series for De Kock and ended a sequence of five successive scores of 50 or more by the left-hander.

Markram survived two sharp chances, Udana lunging to his right but failing to hold a return catch when the batsman was on two, and on 13 when a diving Oshada Fernando could not hold a difficult chance in the covers off the same bowler.

But Markram batted with authority in sharing half-century stands with captain Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen before the umpires decided the light was not good enough for play to continue.

Despite being a key player in South Africa's Test team, Markram had failed to cement a place in the one-day side. He made 66 on debut against Bangladesh in 2017 but Saturday's innings was his first half-century in 17 innings since then.

Aiden Markram was handed a likely lifeline to the Cricket World Cup on Monday when he was named in South Africa’s squad for the final two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka.

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP

Markram, a fixture as an opening batsman in South Africa’s Test team, has not played in a one-day international since November 2018.

A modest one-day international record has counted against Markram but successive innings of 169, 139 and 85 for the Titans domestic franchise this month earned him a recall for South Africa's last two one-day matches before the World Cup, starting in May.

Also back is the experienced JP Duminy, who returned to domestic action with two half-centuries this month after being out of action since October following shoulder surgery. Duminy adds balance to the squad as a left-handed batsman and capable off-spin bowler.

Another experienced returning player is batsman Hashim Amla.

A squad of 15 players was named �?the same number as will go to the World Cup. Batsman Reeza Hendricks and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder were dropped.

South Africa lead the five-match series against Sri Lanka 3-0.

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wkt), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen.

Remaining fixtures:

March 13, Port Elizabeth

March 16, Cape Tow