England’s former number-one ranked T20I batter, Dawid Malan, has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 37. Over the last decade, Malan has been an important factor in England’s success in white-ball cricket, most relevantly in T20Is. The last he wore the England shirt was during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, with one final sight of his skills on the international stage.
Malan’s international journey started off in 2017 with his debut T20 International match against South Africa, in which he scored an astonishing 78 off 44 balls. Though pretty good as a start, it was on the 2017-2018 Ashes Tour in Australia that he actually made a reputation out of himself in Test cricket.
A real standout was recorded in Perth through Malan’s amazing 140-the one stand-alone century to his name in the format. It is so because, even though his Test career didn’t reach the heights he aspired to, in Australia his performances were notable, more often than not standing out among England’s batting lineup.
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Looking at his Test career retrospectively, Dawid Malan said, “Test cricket was always the pinnacle for me growing up. At times I played well but in between, just wasn’t good enough or consistent enough, and that was frustrating because I thought I was a better player than that.”
After the World Cup, Malan continued to hammer away in the T20I format and kept on offering splendid performance one after another. In 2019, there was a 48-ball century against New Zealand that really stamped him into the lineup. By March 2021, he had become the fastest batter to 1,000 runs in the T20I format, amassing runs off just 24 innings.
Dawid Malan has announced his retirement from international cricket 🏴
An incredible player and person. Thanks for the memories, @dmalan29 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Sk7NmcjBLU
— England’s Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) August 28, 2024
But even though a groin injury cut short his participation in England’s 2022 T20 World Cup-winning campaign, Malan has already proved himself as a player that the side cannot afford to go without. Another high of his career was the late blooming in ODIs. Counterinstinctive to his natural fit to the format, he warranted an ODI pick only in 2022 by becoming a regular member of the 50-over side of England.
Between June 2022 and September 2023, he scored five hundreds in just 15 innings, with one coming in a memorable match against Bangladesh at the 2023 World Cup. Malan gave significant bright spots in what has otherwise been a drab performance overall in this tournament by England.
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Reflecting on his career further, Malan placed more emphasis on the aspect of winning. “On the field, I always did what I felt was right to win a game for the team. It was always about winning, and I’d always question myself as to whether I’d made the right decisions on the field to do that,” he concluded.
With his retirement, Malan leaves behind a legacy of resilience, skill, and dedication to the game.
