The Hundred Men’s 2026: New-look Manchester Super Giants announce Aiden Markram as captain

South African international Aiden Markram has been named captain of the Manchester Super Giants ahead of The Hundred Men’s 2026. The franchise has rebranded from the Manchester Originals ahead of the new season following privatisation. 

This will be Markram’s first season in The Hundred, and that too as a captain of a new-look franchise. The 31-year-old, however, is well accustomed to the Super Giants, having represented the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League and the Durban Super Giants in the SA20. 

Markram had a massive payday during the inaugural The Hundred auction earlier this year. The right-handed batter was picked up by the Manchester-based outfit for a fee of GBP 200,000, making him the franchise’s joint third-highest purchase.

Markram will now be tasked with leading a star-studded side in the 2026 season. The Manchester Super Giants have a squad brimming with international stars, including Jos Buttler, Josh Tongue, Heinrich Klassen, Noor Ahmad, Tim Seifert and Liam Dawson, to name a few. 

It is worth mentioning that Markram has had excellent experience of leading a franchise side in other tournaments. The South African international guided the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to two successive SA20 titles in 2023 and 2024 before moving to the Durhan Super Giants ahead of the 2026 season. 

Markram is also the only non-Englishman to captain a team in The Hundred 2026. Seven out of the eight franchises have an England player as their leader. These include Phil Salt (Welsh Fire), Sam Curran (MI London), Zak Crawley (Sunrisers Leeds), Chris Jordan (Southern Brave), Sam Billings (Trent Rockets), Jacob Bethell (Birmingham Phoenix) and Liam Livingstone (London Spirit).

After announcing Markram as their Men’s captain, the Manchester Super Giants have completed their lineup of skippers ahead of the 2026 season. Former Australian batter Meg Lanning is set to lead the Women’s side. The 34-year-old has already begun her association with the city of Manchester after representing Lancashire in the T20 Blast this summer.