SA vs ENG | Aiden Markram ruled out of remainder of Test series with fractured finger
South African opener Aiden Markram, who scored 22 runs across two innings in the first Test in Centurion, has been ruled out of the remainder of the series after sustaining a fracture to his fourth left finger. He'd earlier fractured his wrist in October after smashing it against a foreign object.
South Africa have been dealt a body blow as opener Aiden Markram will miss the remainder of the four-Test series due to a fracture he suffered to his fourth left finger. Markram is set to undergo injury for the same, which is bound to rule him out of action for at least six weeks. Markram batted late on Day 2 in the second innings and managed to score just two runs, before being trapped plumb in front by James Anderson. In the first innings, he got off to a brisk start, scoring 20, before throwing his wicket away to Sam Curran.Â
"Aiden sustained a fracture affecting the distal joint of his left ring finger. After consulting with a number of hand specialists yesterday, we arrived at a decision that the best outcome would be achieved through surgical reduction and fixation. This would mean him unfortunately missing the rest of the series against England. We feel for Aiden who worked extremely hard to come through his previous hand fracture sustained in India to be Test match ready," Dr Shuaib Manjra, Cricket South Africa Chief Medical Officer, was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Despite being in relatively gloomy form of late, Markram has been a mainstay in the Proteas Test XI ever-since making his Test debut versus Bangladesh in 2017. Whilst South Africa are yet to announce a replacement for Markram in the squad, they do, however, have Cape Cobras Pieter Malan in the original, who could come in as a direct replacement for the 25-year-old. Earlier in October, Markram missed the third Test versus India in Ranchi after he fractured his wrist by smashing it against a foreign object on the aftermath of his Pune Test dismissal.Â