Aiden Markram IPL: South African batsman replaces Dawid Malan at Punjab Kings for IPL 2021

Aiden Markram IPL: The South African batsman will join Punjab Kings in what will be his maiden season of the Indian Premier League.

South Africa batsman Aiden Markram has signed with Punjab Kings as England batsman Dawid Malan’s replacement for the remainder of Indian Premier League 2021.

Malan, 34, is among the three English players also involving wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow and all-rounder Chris Woakes who have opted to not travel to the UAE for the cash-rich league in a bid to manage their workloads before the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and Ashes 2021-22.

Readers must note that Malan had made his IPL debut for Punjab Kings in their last match before the tournament was suspended midway through its league stage earlier this year. Batting at No. 4 against Delhi Capitals, Malan had scored 26 (26) before getting bowled by Axar Patel.

Aiden Markram IPL stats

Much like Malan, Markram will also be making his IPL debut if he gets to play in the second phase. At Kings, the right-hand batsman will have to fight alongside Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and Moises Henriques to earn a spot in their Playing XI.

While Markram doesn’t have any numbers with respect to the IPL, his recent form is expected to have played a significant role behind a maiden IPL call-up. Having scored 387 runs in 10 T20I innings this year at an average and strike rate of 38.70 and 152.96 respectively including four half-centuries, Markram is the fourth-highest run-scorer in the shortest format at the highest level.

Not known for his T20 records, Markaram hasn’t played in any T20 league barring the Mzansi Super League for Paarl Rocks. A decent performance in the IPL will not only provide act as a confidence-booster ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 but might also hand more T20 gigs to the 26-year old right-handed batsman.