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New Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter has shed light on the complete omission of former captain Temba Bavuma from the Twenty20 squad.
Walter, who takes the reins for the first time since his appointment in January, on Monday named Aiden Markram as Bavuma's T20 successor after it was earlier confirmed that the 32-year-old would relinquish the leadership role in the shorter format.
However, many would be surprised to learn that the 32-year-old has not been considered at all for a playing position in the 20-over side, with Walter explaining his decision.
Yeah, as for Temba missing out, I think that's purely a T20 performance-based decision, and my job now is to work with him to get him back into the side, so that will certainly be one of our focuses.
Proteas white-ball coach, Rob Walter
Markram recently led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title and previously captained the Proteas in Faf du Plessis's absence back in 2018 – becoming South Africa's second-youngest skipper after Graeme Smith. Walter explained that the 28-year-old now being entrusted to lead the T20 side is just a natural progression in his career.
"Look, Aiden, obviously, has shown himself to be a leader over a period of time now. Obviously, his most recent success with the Sunrisers stands out, so it seemed like just a logical progression, really, into the leadership of the national side," he added.
"He has been there before but I think he's matured a lot as a player and a leader since then, so ja, I mean, Aiden is certainly a leader in the group [and] has been for a long time, so, as I said, it seemed like a logical progression for him to take over the reins."
