Aiden Markram's Test record in England

Truth be told, Aiden Markram is one of the most classical and elegant batters to watch out there. In the present firmament of the game, he brings to South Africa a solid element of dependability and a sense of wide-eyed consciousness that is needed to excel under pressure.

In some ways, therefore, Aiden Markram, 45 Tests to his name with 2857 runs, brings an element of competitiveness and fairness that one expects from South African cricketers, who are currently akin to soldiers out there on a mission as their fans currently imagine them to be. Their biggest current complex but achievable challenge being to win the WTC final.

Markram's ability to hold onto an end and hit runs, thereby often changing the gears whilst batting have seen him rise above pressure, mount the attack via a watertight defence, especially under pressure and anchor an inning as gracefully and importantly as one can.

In that respect, he is a mighty fine competitor but then there's always a mounting feeling that he's not yet been at his best at the Test level, and that some of his finest knocks remain ahead of him.

So here is the big question then - 

Can the man who has hit just 7 Test centuries but from 82 Test innings really carve a mighty one as he'll soon be seen in combat mode? More importantly, can the 30-year-old hold Australia to ransom displaying typical tenacity and grace under pressure.

There's reason to believe as Aiden Markram's highest Test score vs Australia is 152 and that remains, a career-best high for him, as on date. Moreover, his batting average of 60 against the giant killers called Australia.

The odds are stacked as far as his performances with the bat stand versus the Aussies but you sense trouble looking at his performances in England.

Having said the above, while criticism is something that one could easily resort to when it comes to analysing the Test batting numbers of the graceful Aiden Markram, his numbers, truth be told, also need a bit of perspective.

All that the talented and capable right hander has in England are but 3 Test matches. Just 3. And that's that. Now while he's played Test matches against the mighty English side at checkered venues such as the Lord's and Old Trafford, both being iconic venues, there's a distinct feeling that Markram, despite all his talent, hasn't really excelled here.

For arguments sake and for the sake for fairness, it does make sense that in order to have a flurry of good scores at a particular venue, all one needs is time,  but in an era where cricket is all about adapting quickly to the changing conditions, it could be argued that Markram needs to have had more against his name, especially when it comes to playing in England, than he does.

Not once has, arguably speaking, the best current batter in the South African side breached in to a 20-something score. And that's despite batting 4 times here in England.

This time around, while he won't be up against an Ollie Robinson or a Gus Atkinson-led attack for the contest isn't about England, he will still be in for a searing pace attack whose prime combatant, it must be said, is a legend in his own right - Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc combining forces with either Josh Hazlewood or Scott Boland or one of these two. And quite frankly, it won't be very easy in facing them.

But Markram, you ought to think, will persist.

Aiden Markram's Test match numbers in England: