Ottis Gibson: “he is trying to bat in a way that is not the Aiden Markram I saw in September”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

South Africa head coach Ottis Gibson has admitted that he cannot explain stand-in captain Aiden Markram’s sudden dip in form with the bat.

Markram has been captaining the Proteas since the second ODI in the ongoing six-match series against India after regular skipper Faf du Plessis was ruled out for the rest of the limited overs series with a fractured right index finger.

In the five ODIs that have been played thus far, Markram has only scored 103 runs at an average of 20.60.

When asked if the leadership role is to blame for the Centurion native’s poor run of form, Gibson conceded that he had no idea.

“He has shown glimpses (of what he is capable of),” Gibson was quoted as saying by Sport24. “I don’t know if the whole responsibility around captaining has been too much for him but it seems he is trying to bat in a way that is not the Aiden Markram I saw in September. I’ve spoken to him about that.”

Despite Markram’s troubles with the bat, Gibson insisted that he has no regrets over making the 23-year-old captain.

In fact, Gibson firmly believes that Markram will captain the Proteas on a full-time basis in the future.

“This (making Markram the captain) was a decision for the future, not a decision for now,” he said. “Aiden has shown all the hallmarks of someone who is going to be a good leader and with Faf out we thought we could give him the opportunity.

“Looking back I think it was the right decision, I’m not going to second-guess myself.”

Having secured their first-ever bilateral ODI series win over South Africa in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, India will now be looking to win the series 5-1 in the sixth ODI, which will be held in Centurion on Saturday.