Titans head coach Mark Boucher has implored the Proteas to name batsman Aiden Markram in the squad for the World Cup in the United Kingdom later this year.

Markram relished a superb stretch of form during the Titans’s title-winning One-Day Cup campaign earlier this year. He struck 542 runs in five innings, which included a superb century during Sunday’s final against the Dolphins at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

‘I will pay for his flight. The way Aiden has been playing‚ you don’t want to put shackles around him. He had a good partnership with Dean Elgar in the One-Day Cup final last weekend, and he must go to the World Cup,’ Boucher was quoted as saying by Times LIVE.

Elgar, who has opened the batting with Markram in Test match competition on several occasions, agreed with Boucher.

‘For me it does not need discussion – just take the boy. He has scored over 500 runs in about five games for the Titans. There is no debate here,’ added Elgar.

‘If he doesn’t go‚ South Africa is shooting itself in the foot, in my opinion.’

The talented right-hander will play for Hampshire in English county competition prior to the World Cup.

‘I am excited about it. Initially it is tough out there in county cricket as a batter, but it is something that I am looking forward to and I will try to learn as much as I can,’ concluded Markram.

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