In South Africa's greatest triumph, Markram makes an indelible mark

Just before the heavens opened up at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on the afternoon of June 29, 2024, a distraught Aiden Markram was subjected to a barrage of unpleasant queries on yet another heartbreak for South Africa.

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In the aftermath of a seven-run defeat to India in the T20 World Cup final, it was incumbent on Markram as skipper to try and explain how his team could botch up an eminently favourable position in a run chase of 177 — 30 runs were needed off the last five overs with six wickets in hand — to add to the country's gut-wrenching history of near-misses. The dreaded c-word, of course, had haunted many previous South African captains including Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock and Graeme Smith. Within a year from that day in the Caribbean, though, Markram has had his redemption, and how! At a sun-lit Lord's Cricket Ground in the heart of London on Saturday, the 30-year-old, in contrast to his emotions at the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, exulted with joy as South Africa vanquished old nemesis Australia in the World Test Championship final to lift its first major ICC title (it won the Wills International Cup in 1998 before the tournament was re-branded as the ICC Champions Trophy). Having produced a monumental 136 in the fourth innings to help the Proteas chase down 282, Markram, adjudged the Player-of-the-Match, was at the front and centre of South Africa's greatest triumph.