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South Africa vs New Zealand: Captaincy, all-round abilities not only traits that tie Aiden Markram and Mitchell Santner together

Both are resolutely fighting their teams’ corner to reach the World Cup final. Their simultaneous evolution as leaders and cricketers has some canny similarities, too.

(LEFT) New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner; (right) South Africa skipper Aiden Markram. (AP Photos)

Written by: Sandip G

6 min readKolkataMar 3, 2026 07:40 PM IST First published on: Mar 3, 2026 at 07:40 PM IST

Two captains, who are as much as passionate about the swing of the golf club as shaping legacies on a cricket pitch, will meet at the Eden Gardens for a spot in the final. Aiden Markram, a recreational golfer since he was a child, boasts a handicap of 7.6; Mitchell Santner, a more serious one, flaunts 3.4. Like the treacherous fairways and wickedly sloping greens, the paths they traversed on a cricketing field have seen deep roughs, trees shot and fearsome bunkers. But here, they are two games away from the ultimate prize, or to borrow from golf’s lexicon, wearing the green jacket.

Their brand of leadership is similar. Both retreat to the background; they are one among the men, shirking from the limelight and deflecting praise towards their teammates. Santner has played under all great modern-day leaders of his country, from the hyper-aggressive Brendon McCullum to the understatedly pragmatic Kane Williamson. Yet, he has forged an identity of his own, with elements from both his lofty predecessors. Santner’s men are attacking yet pragmatic, assertive but graceful. Like Williamson’s group, they are a bunch that endears.

South Africa discovered Markram, the captain, after a long round of revolving chairs. Makram found his way to the top job through a long road, ridden with doubts, suffering and eventual redemption. After Faf du Plessis’s retirement in 2019, South Africa tried three different full-time captains before they chose Markram. He is the archetypal ‘lead-from-the front’ figure, who imposes the difficult jobs on himself without fuss or noise. An all-left opening combo? He promotes himself from the middle-order comforts and breaks it. A part-time off-spinner to take the new ball? He raises his arms and completes the job. “You can’t preach to the boys and not do it yourself,” Markram said after the Proteas defeated New Zealand in the group stages. It’s the philosophy he lives on, but without the labours taking a toll on him or walking with an air of self-importance. Satner is cut from the same cloth. Runs down the order? “Yes, I would.” Bowling in powerplay, middle-overs, death overs? Santner puts in the shifts.

Aptitude for leadership

Beneath their calm exteriors are shrewd tacticians. Markram has been expertly using his bowlers, wrapping an arm around them after bad days and spending time in the nets, watching and encouraging them. “With Aiden, it is about clarity. Aiden is always Aiden, very consistent,” his long-time teammate Quinton de Kock says.

It’s a fascinating tale of how they have evolved as cricketers, too. Markram had the strokes, eye-pleasing ones no less, to crack any format. Raised in an upscale locale of Pretoria, Markram was touted as the future of South Africa’s batting, the inheritor of a proud legacy. He was the next AB de Villiers as well as Graeme Smith, after he led the U-19 team to World Cup glory in 2014. Yet, it was not until after the pandemic that he became a cross-format regular. His pursuit of perfection turned him into an overthinking wreck. “He is one guy who walks straight to nets after getting out to practice the shot that undid him,” his former coach, Ray Jennings, would say. “The day he grabbed a cricket bat, his ambition was clear: to become the best batsman in the world. He wanted to be a perfectionist and batted all the time,” childhood coach Pierre de Bruyne tells The Indian Express.

But after the pandemic, Markram came out of the confidence crisis, embraced a relaxed mindset, and turned a corner, peaking with a century in the World Test Championship final against Australia. In the shorter formats, he polished his off-spin and regularly chimes in with a couple of overs.

South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and West Indies in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Bred in laid-back Hamilton, Santner did not have the pressure of inheritances. “He was a quiet lad with many gifts,” his childhood coach Chris Kuggeleijn tells this newspaper. He was not the ‘new Daniel Vettori’ even though he bowled left-arm spin and batted. He began as a medium-pacer but he was too short to pursue it seriously. “I would often pitch halfway down the track, and hence had to change,” he once said. Kuggeleijn knew better. “He did this, and that, he was all sorts. Then he got into spin [orthodox] bowling in about Year 11,” he recollects.

New Zealand’s captain Mitchel Santner during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Santner’s attributes required constant nurturing. The coach, most famous for the catch that gave Richard Hadlee his 431st Test wicket, was more impressed with his hitting skills. He had incredible timing. He hit the ball late, under his eyes, and he had fast hands,” he says. He is not packed with muscles, but he times the ball sublimely. When he started, he was the typical short-form left-arm spinner that darted the ball in. But over the years, he has become slower through the air, developed the art of deceiving batsmen through flight and dip and become an expert in using the crease. His crowning glory was the Test series in India, where he grabbed 13 wickets in Pune and bowled New Zealand to their maiden series win in India.

It’s a paradox of the two captains’ careers, too. Their best moments have arrived in red-ball cricket. But white-ball glory is gleaming on the fairways of Eden that leads to Ahmedabad.