Aiden Markram willing to slide to number 4 slot to fill void left by AB de Villiers

Young South African opener Aiden Markram has offered to slip down the order and take the number four position to fill the void left by AB de Villiers in the batting line-up.

“It's a little bit different, but at the end of the day, it's the ball and the situation you've got to play. If I ever got given that opportunity I would take it with open arms,” Markram was as quoted by Sport24.

The young man who has made a stellar start to his South African career was even appointed the captain for the ODI series against India. He even confessed that going down the batting order would feel a little bit foreign to him, but he has played a few white-ball games for his franchise Titans, which should hold him in good stead if the management does allocate that role to him.

Markram has been superb in Test cricket with 1000 runs in 10 matches at a brilliant average of 55.55. However, his ODI form has been jittery and he is yet to transform his Test credentials into ODIs. In seven matches he has managed to score 197 runs at an average of 27.57.

For his young age, Markram has displayed tremendous temperament and is viewed as a future captain. He has stressed that people should not look to find another AB de Villiers as it is practically not possible and that South Africa should invest in many young players coming through the ranks.

He named Heinrich Klaasen and Temba Bavuma as two players who might come into the fray after AB vacated the slot and that they should be looked after as they possess the game to be successful at the highest level.

AB de Villiers had announced his retirement last month just four days after his IPL campaign got over.

It brought curtains down on an International career that spanned 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 Twenty20 internationals from which de Villiers scored over 20,014 runs.