Dawid Malan, who previously held the title of the world’s No. 1 ranked T20 batter, has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 37.
Malan, England’s former top-ranked T20I batter, has announced his retirement from international cricket at 37. Over his career, Malan played in 22 Tests, 30 ODIs, and 62 T20Is, becoming one of only two England men’s players, alongside Jos Buttler, to score centuries in all three international formats. Despite this, he had not been selected for an England squad since the 50-over World Cup in India last year, and he confirmed his retirement following his exclusion from the upcoming white-ball series against Australia.
The Career of Dawid Malan
England batter Dawid Malan, who last appeared in an international match during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, once held the top spot in the T20 rankings for an extended period. He will conclude his career with 4,416 runs for England across 114 matches in all three formats. Malan had an outstanding run in T20 cricket, where he dominated the rankings for a considerable time and was part of England’s T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2022. However, he struggled to maintain the same level of consistency in the other two formats.
Malan, who has scored 1,450 runs in ODIs, is one of only two batters with an average over 55 and a strike rate above 95 with at least 1,000 runs in the format, the other being Shubman Gill. Although Malan started his international career later than most, he became a prolific run-scorer in white-ball cricket at the No. 3 position. Even in his final assignment for England, he was one of the few positives in an otherwise disappointing World Cup campaign, scoring 404 runs at an average of 44.8, including a century and two half-centuries.
However, Malan expressed regret over not playing more Test cricket, saying that it was always the pinnacle for him growing up. While announcing his retirement he said that although he performed well at times, he was disappointed by his inconsistency, as he believed he was a better player than his record showed.
Malan played only 22 Tests in his career, amassing 1,074 runs, which included participating in two consecutive tours of Australia. In Test cricket, Malan was often considered an afterthought, primarily serving as a backup rather than a first-choice player, particularly in home conditions, which is why his numbers in the format are limited.
Dawid Malan’s Words
Malan said,”I took all three formats extremely seriously but the intensity of Test cricket was something else: five days plus the days building up. I’m a big trainer; I love hitting lots of balls and I’d train hard in the build-up, and then the days were long and intense. You can’t switch off. I found it very mentally draining, especially the long Test series that I played, where my performances dropped off from the third or fourth Test onwards,” Malan added.
Malan, who recently secured a victory in the Hundred with the Oval Invincibles, was also a member of the SA20 winning team Sunrisers Eastern Cape and is expected to continue being in high demand on the T20 franchise circuit.
With his England career now behind him, Dawid Malan is expected to be highly sought after in the T20 franchise circuit. Most recently, he played for the Oval Invincibles, contributing to their victory in the Men’s Hundred, two years after being part of the Trent Rockets team that won the 2022 title. Last winter, he also helped Sunrisers Eastern Cape secure the SA20 championship in its second season and played for Multan Sultans in the PSL.
