Dawid Malan Declares His Intentions Of Being Part Of England's T20 World Cup Title Defence

New Delhi [India], April 3 (ANI): England batter Dawid Malan revealed his intention to be a part of the Three Lions title defence in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 which will be played in the USA and the West Indies in June. Malan was England's top scorer in the World Cup 2023 with 404 runs at 44.88, which saw them finish in the seventh spot in the group stage. At the end of last year, he was left out of England's T20I tour of the Caribbean and went on to miss the five-match Test series against India earlier this year.

After Ben Stokes decided to opt out of the upcoming T20 World Cup to focus on his fitness, there is a window of opportunity for Malan to feature in the 15-player squad.

"I'd like to be. I wouldn't say performance would have anything to do with it. In 2023, I had a pretty good year in 50-over cricket and I wouldn't say I'm old, considering Jimmy [Anderson] is 42 or something like that! I can't see it being an age thing, and there's a tournament in a few months' time," Malan said when asked if he was in consideration to defend the T20 title he contributed to two years ago as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"Obviously I know they might want to go in a different direction. That's absolutely fine. They're entitled to do whatever they need to do that they think is the best way to move English cricket in the right direction. I still feel I'm good enough and young enough to do it. That's out of my control, selection-wise," he added.

Malan opened up about potential retirement and his future in the England cricket team. He revealed that he will have a conversation with the management in the coming days which will give him more clarity about his future.

"I have no idea what they are thinking at the moment. We have got appraisals in 12 or 14 days so I'll probably find out a bit more then. I will just take it as it comes. I am not looking too far ahead or wanting something that might not be there," he said.

"If it is, it is; if it isn't, it isn't. I have made peace with that. I have a different path that I am looking at at the moment in terms of the last two or three years in my career and if things pop up, they pop up. And if they don't, they don't. It'll be interesting to see where things are and, yeah, it'll be good to have a good chat with Keysy," he added.

England will begin their ICC Men's T20 World Cup defence against Scotland on June 4 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. They will then play group matches against Australia, Oman, and Namibia in Barbados and Antigua before qualifying for the Super 8s and knockouts. (ANI)