The Proteas seamer, Marco Jansen, has lauded the batter and captain, Aiden Markram, ahead of their semi-final against Afghanistan at the ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Markram has the distinction of being the only man to lead South Africa to a Cricket World Cup title and that was with the U19’s in 2014 in Dubai. That was the only time at any level that South Africa has managed to win a World Cup. The fast bowler, Kagiso Rabada, also played in that team in the UAE.

Ten years' later Markram is leading the Proteas at a senior World Cup as the official captain for the first time, and he and his team can make history on Sunday. During the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, Markram, led the team in a few games while Temba Bavuma battled with niggles.

Aiden Markram during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup - Cricinfo

Jansen, who hit the winning runs with a six in the three-wicket win against the West Indies on Monday, rates his captain as of the best, if not the best he has ever worked with.

“He’s probably the best captain I've worked with because he just remains so calm on the field,” said Jansen.

“I think it sort of feels like sometimes nothing fazes him, but I know, like we know sometimes on the inside he does feel it.

“But in saying that, he always keeps calm and he always, like me personally, he makes me calm when I have a ball in my hand, which is also the feeling you want to have as a bowler – that’s just opinion.

“The decisions he makes on the field, no one ever questions it because we know where, not only where it comes from, but why he's making certain decisions when and how. We might not necessarily know why or why he's making a certain decision at that moment.

“We always as a team and as a collective know the reasoning behind it, and why he makes a certain decision when he does - it’s just to put the team into a winning position.

“He's definitely one of the best, if not the best captain I've worked with.”

South Africa and Afghanistan will go head-to-head on Thursday, with this semi-final in Trinidad & Tobago getting underway at 2:30am.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport