Being the captain of a national team is a real honour for anyone. And why wouldn’t it be? After all, becoming the leader of a nation is always something one desires to be. And Aiden Markram will have that honour now as he will lead the Proteas against India for the rest of the ODI series.

Injuries to captain Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers opened his luck as the pride of leading the Proteas has been bestowed upon Markram.

“It wasn't a hard decision. Rather, it was an easy decision. If AB de Villiers was around, and other senior players as well, we would have probably looked at different options," said Cricket South Africa convener of selectors Linda Zondi.

"But at the moment, with both our former captains not around, it was an ideal opportunity for us that here is Markram, lets see what he can offer. We are confident. He wants to do it as well. It just gives us an opportunity to open it up and see what he can offer.

"We are aware that Markram is new to our set-up. Part of our Vision 2019 plan is to build a pool of leaders within the set-up. I think Markram has always been in our plans since he was Under-19 captain, leading up to South Africa A, and now joining the Proteas."

For Markram, it is a matter of both surprise and joy. It was only last October when he was given his ODI debut for South Africa. Indeed, he has played only two ODI games for the Proteas, making this decision a bit of a surprising one.

However, the argument that goes in his favour is that he led the South Africa U19 team to World Cup glory in 2014—becoming the only South African captain do so. Ever since his breakthrough, he has been touted to be the future South Africa captain, however not even he expected the honour to be bequeathed to him so early.