The rise and rise of Dawid Malan – No 1 ICC T20I ranked batsman

The past couple of weeks has seen a lot of people sit up and take notice of the work that Dawid Malan is doing within the England T/20 side. Having been declared man of the series against the South Africans and reaching the top of the ICC T/20 batting rankings.

England Tour of South Africa 2020

Yet Malan is no newcomer. Having been a prolific opening batsman for Middlesex 2ndX1, he made his first-class debut against Northants at Uxbridge in 2008, batting at number 4 and scoring a hundred in his first innings. For many subsequent seasons he showed flashes of brilliance, but rarely scored the weight of runs that were expected from one of his talents.

?? He started #SAvENG as the World No.1
?? He ends it by making history

Dawid Malan has just achieved the HIGHEST rating points in T20I history ??

?? UPDATED @MRFWorldwide ICC T20I Rankings: https://t.co/H7CnAiw0YT pic.twitter.com/85sVon3ci2

— ICC (@ICC) December 2, 2020

Also, in 2008, he announced his aptitude for T/20 cricket when Middlesex played Lancashire in the domestic quarter final held at The Oval, as Lord’s was being used. Going in at number 6 when the team were 21-4, he first added an 80-run partnership with Eoin Morgan (33), which allowed his side to gain control. Eventually he was out for 103 in 54 balls with 10 fours and 6 sixes at which point Freddie Flintoff walked across to shake his hand. Middlesex went on to win that match and the trophy.

But Malan is not the stereotypical T/20 hitter, he is a classical left-handed batter, who’s driving is similar to that of a lot of classy left handers including David Gower. Like most good players his game is built around a sound technique. There seems little reason why he should not be able to transfer his shorter form success to the Test Match arena.

Moving from Middlesex to Yorkshire in 2020, may have relieved him of some of the shackles which held him back. As no longer captain, he is free to concentrate on his own game and batting in particular. In his first season for the club, he scored a double century in the Bob Willis Trophy game against Derby.

With a T/20 World Cup in the near future, there is much to anticipate from the powerful England batting line up, but hopefully Malan can show his class on the Test stage as well.

Vic Demain

©Cricket World 2020