I don’t think I’m anywhere near as good as Virat Kohli: Dawid Malan

England’s blooming left-handed batsman Dawid Malan has been constantly making headlines owing to his exceptional performances in the limited-overs format. He emerged as a match-winner for the hosts in the ongoing Australia tour of England. Dawid scored a match-winning knock of 66 runs from 43 balls in the first T20 International while he mustered 42 in the second T20I, stitching a much-needed partnership of 87 runs with Jos Buttler for the second wicket.

Notably, England won the first match by two runs while it registered victory in the second match by 6 wickets to seal the three-match series. Malan had also collected 84 runs in the three-match T20I series against Pakistan in Manchester.

Through his brilliant performances, the 33-year-old is eyeing a place in England’s squad for the T20 World Cup scheduled in India next year. Lately, England has been boasting of a great depth in its batting unit with the likes of Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and many more.

Malan has an impressive average of 50+ in the T20I format and for the same reason is being compared with the legends of the game like Indian skipper Virat Kohli. The swashbuckling batsman has till now featured in only 15 T20ls amassing 661 runs at a strike rate of 147.9. When asked about the same, Malan asserted that it would be too soon to compare him with the veterans.

“I don’t think I’m anywhere near as good as Virat Kohli and those guys even though the numbers are sort of suggesting that. Maybe if I played 50 games I could be compared to some extent. But all I can do is score runs.” he was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

The left-handed batsman is aware of the fierce competition for acquiring a place in the national team. Thus, he is just focusing on scoring more and more runs and making a mark by his consistent performance.

“We all know how good the players are that hold those positions.Their records over the last four or five years have been fantastic. For anyone to break in, you have to be extremely consistent and win games of cricket for England,” Malan added.

All I can do is score runs, says Dawid Malan

Speaking about England’s preparation for the upcoming T20 tournament, Dawid Malan reckoned that the management is definitely aiming at winning the T20 World Cup after winning their maiden ODI World Cup. Also, since Dawid doesn’t have a central contract from ECB, he knows that the only way to survive is by shining in every opportunity he gets.

“They look to plan, so you play in conditions and with game plans that will potentially suit the T20 World Cup in India, which is why I think we are playing on used wickets here. Especially if you’re not contracted you don’t really know if you are in or out of the team.But that just means when you do get your opportunity you try to make the most of it.

“If I keep scoring runs at the rate I’m scoring at hopefully it will make it hard for them to ignore what I’m doing and I can somehow find a way into that starting XI.” the 33-year-old further said..