Opener Dawid Malan drops hints over playing final ODI match for England

KOLKATA: England’s left-handed opener Dawid Malan has dropped hints over Saturday’s clash against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup being his final match for the country. With 373 runs, Malan is England’s highest run-getter in the tournament, but at 36, he’s also the second oldest member of the team.

“I guess I'm in a unique situation being the second oldest in this team. I don't know what my future holds whether that be my choice or the team's choice. After this tournament probably, I have a bit of reflection time and see where I'm at and see what the future holds for me.”

“Tomorrow could be the last game of cricket for England for me and it could still be the start of another journey. Who knows? We'll only find out when the dust settles,” said Malan in the pre-match press conference.

In the tournament, Malan averaged 46 with the bat and hit his career-best score of 140 against Bangladesh at Dharamshala last month. He's been one of the rare bright spots in a dismal World Cup campaign for England. Malan was also one of the eight players to have been offered a one-year central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“Playing for England means everything for me. I've made no secret of that, I've always wanted to be part of this team and play for England for as long as I can. But ultimately you get to a stage where you have to look a little bit further ahead and what's best for maybe the team and what's best for everything else.”

“There's decisions to be made over the next couple of days when the dust has settled and, we'll see where we end up. I guess from a physical side -- the body's quite sore. I've got to admit it's been quite long. When you're winning games of cricket it doesn't feel as sore; when you're losing it, you know it starts to feel a bit heavy.”

“But from a batting point of view, I feel like I'm playing as well as I've ever played. I don't think you know I'm getting worse if you want to put it that way yeah, I've had some quiet moments in the last year or so where I haven't scored as many runs as I'd liked.”

“But when I have played well, I feel like I'm still as good as I've ever been, and I guess that desire to keep scoring as many runs as I can is always there it's just whether it's just whether the body can stay with that,” he elaborated.

Talking about young batter Harry Brook, who has made just one fifty in the tournament, Malan backed him to come good in the future, saying the right-handed batter has the potential to play 100 matches across all formats.

“I really feel for him. I feel like there's been so much pressure put on his shoulders, almost as if he was the saviour of English cricket. The poor kid is still learning his way and he's still trying to find his feet in international cricket and learn his game. Hopefully, he learns from this as well and from all the pressure that's been put on his shoulders.”

“He can find a way to keep getting better because I think he's an exceptional talent and I can see him playing and I hope he plays 100 games for England across all formats of the game. With anything, when you fail, no matter who you are, the quicker you learn from that, the better. Harry is one of the quickest learners I've seen as a young player and hopefully, he can keep learning and hit those heights that we all know he's capable of achieving,” he concluded.