Aiden Markram smashed a brilliant 110 in the 2nd ODI at Raipur — his maiden ODI hundred as an opener — yet he did not walk out to open in the 3rd ODI at Visakhapatnam. Instead, South Africa continued with Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton as their opening pair.
There are two clear reasons behind this decision:
1. The team wanted to give Ryan Rickelton the opening slot again
Rickelton was drafted back into the XI and South Africa seemed keen to provide him continuity at the top. The management appears to be backing him to settle as an opener, and giving him that space meant Markram had to move down to his more familiar No. 3/4 role.
2. Markram adapted as a senior batter — similar to how KL Rahul adjusts for India
Just like India often reshuffle KL Rahul based on team balance, Markram — as a senior player — has the flexibility to adjust his batting position. He has spent most of his ODI career in the middle order, and despite scoring a century as an opener, he returned to his usual slot to accommodate the team combination.
Markram’s versatility is one of South Africa’s biggest strengths in this series, allowing the management to structure the lineup around form players like Rickelton and Breetzke.
At 25 overs, South Africa stood at 143/2, with de Kock dominating on 84* and Breetzke settling in alongside him.
