Dawid Malan

Dawid Malan is a late bloomer in the international circuit. The Roehampton-born left-handed batsman has been a consistent performer for Middlesex for more than a decade and the national honours was a just reward for sheer consistency.

A pivotal part of the Lord's based Middlesex county, Malan's sheer volume of runs spoke for himself, although a middling first-class average in the late 30s kept him distantly low in the queue for a national call-up. He had announced his arrival with a stylish 51-ball 103, which was termed by his then Middlesex captain, Ed Joyce, as one of the finest ever T20 innings played from a 20-year old.

However, Malan could never achieve the heights in first-class cricket and it wasn't until 2014 that he finished a season with an average greater than 40. 2016 turned out to be a turning point in his career though as he plundered an unbeaten 126-ball 185 against Sri Lanka A in Northampton - a record score for the Lions.

Malan received a call-up to the national T20 team for the three-match series against South Africa in 2017 and promptly responded with a swashbuckling 44-ball 78 on debut, for which he was named Man of the Match. England's floundering batting order meant a spot in the middle-order opened up and Malan was called mid-way through the South Africa Tests. Up against a quality visiting attack, Malan made just 35 runs from four innings. He however followed it up with a much better series against West Indies, scoring 154 runs, including two half-centuries.

With a dwindling Test average, Malan was selected for the Ashes series in 2017-18. In a tour, where the England team was drubbed 4-0 by Australia, Malan’s performance with the bat was a bright spot for the visitors. He registered his maiden Test ton at the WACA in Perth and crossed fifty on three other instances.The left-handed batsman played to his limitations and adapted to the different situations. He racked up 383 runs in nine innings averaging above 40 and ended up as the leading run-getter, and by far the best batter for his side in the series. In T20s, he became an international mercernary and played in various leagues. This in turn helped his game at the international level and Malan became the first player to go past the 900-point mark in T20I Rankings in 2020. 

However with the 'Bazball' era setting in, Malan wasn't quite in the scheme of things and didn't play a Test after January 2022. But his stocks in white ball cricket kept on increasing. The pandemic didn't help but ahead of the World Cup in India, Malan managed to score 5 centuries from 15 innings to edge out Jason Roy. He can be measured and destructive in equal measures at the top of the order and England would be looking up to him to deliver at the 2023 World Cup.

Little known facts:

- Born in London, Malan grew up in South Africa.

- His father and brother have played first-class cricket.

- He made his first class debut at the age of 18 for Boland, before being picked by Middlesex.

- Sporting heroes: Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher.