[Exclusive] If there was a World Cup next year instead of Champions Trophy, maybe I would have delayed retirement: Dawin Malan

Dawid Malan shared his thoughts with CricTracker on the T10 format, talent in the Zimbabwean players who played in the league, England's white-ball future under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Jos Buttler and much more from the sidelines of the recently concluded Zim Afro T10 league.

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What is your take on the T10 format?

"Yeah, it's good fun, isn't it? You are able to just go out and slog. Forget and have a good crack at it as a batter and probably experiment a little bit more than you are probably used to. But yeah, the best thing I have seen about this is this Impact Player rule, where I don't have to field. So, it's my favourite format by far where I can just go out and bat and not field. But apart from that, yes, a great format. It's something that everyone wants to be part of. So, hope we can keep growing as a game," Malan said.

Could you explain the kind of talent that is there among the Zimbabwean players as you played alongside and against many of them in the ZimAfro T10 2024?

I've been very, very impressed. You very rarely see the local, domestic talent. When you are playing with different countries, you are playing against Zimbabwe or you see Zimbabwe play and that's pretty much all you see. To see some of the young, talented players coming through is great and you know, I guess the tournaments like this, where they are able to play on the big stage, be under pressure, be in change rooms with some guys that have been successful.

You look at Jimmy Neesham, played in World Cup final, you got David Warner, Carlos Brathwaite, who have won World Cups. So, these (senior) guys, rubbing shoulders with these guys can only benefit Zimbabwe cricket and that's what you want. You want to have really good players in the change room, being able to give their knowledge to the younger players. I went out for breakfast and I saw (Tawanda Maposa) was having breakfast with David Willey, talking about bowling. That's what you want, that's what you want to see in these tournaments. People interacting, they share their knowledge, that's how players learn.

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England did not have a memorable time defending the ODI World Cup last year in India. They failed to reach the semi-finals but you had a decent campaign as a batter. How was your personal experience?

From a personal point of view, it was obviously great to score runs and to contribute to some of the wins that we had. I mean scoring a hundred in a World Cup is a dream come true for anyone, so that was fantastic. (But) obviously disappointed from a team point of view that we didn't do better. I believe that we had a good enough team to push for that World Cup and we just didn't play well enough as a group together, which is disappointing because, as I said, you dream about playing in World Cups and you dream about winning those trophies. So, it was disappointing that we weren't better as a group.

What are you expecting from the England white-ball team, especially after Brendon McCullum's appointment as new head coach?

I think with any team, when you are in a bit of a transition, it's down to the senior players to perform. You look at the Test team, you look at Bazball, Jonny Bairstow was a fantastic senior player when they started. Joe Root's been phenomenal, Ben Stokes plays unbelievable match-winning innings and that drives the young players with (you). So when your senior players perform, that's when you start rebuilding teams and you start dragging people with (you). I guess that's exactly the same with the white-ball team.

England are gonna need the Buttlers, the Stokes', and the Root's, and everyone of those senior players to be putting their hand up consistently and dragging those young players with (them). They show the players how they want to play and that's how the players learn. But I think England have got fantastic depth in their squad when they have everyone available. Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Stokes potentially, Buttler, Harry Brook. You look at those names and you think that anyone of them can win you games of cricket on their day. And if they can do what they have done so well for so many years and do that consistently again, then England will be in a very good place.

At the time of your retirement, you had the fifth-highest batting average in ODI cricket. After Kevin Pietersen, it was the second-highest amongst England players in T20 cricket. Is there a lingering thought of coming back to international cricket?

No, I'm done. I've had my time, I'm 37 years old. Yeah, I mean in the ideal world, if the cycles were different and there was a World Cup in January or February instead of the Champions Trophy, I'd still have been wanting to play. I still think I'm good enough to play international cricket but, you know, my time is done. I've got young kids at home that I want to spend bit more time with. With international tours getting longer and longer and there are World Cups happening every year, I guess from a mental and physical point of view, it has taken its toll.

I still think I'm good enough but my time is done. I'm very happy with my decision. There's definitely going to be no comeback for me in any way or form. So, yeah, I'm just going to enjoy the cricket that I have left in my career and try and play as much franchise cricket as I can and enjoy that.

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You were in the IPL, playing for the Punjab Kings. In your two-and-half-month experience, was there any funny incident you would like to narrate?

Gosh, any funny incident. To be fair, my memory of that tour was pretty bad. Felt like we were in a bubble for 12 years there, with the way we were kept, very strict. No, I don't think anything stands out. I didn't have the experience of the crowds and all the mayhem that comes with playing in India and in the IPL. So, I guess that was pretty disappointing from my point. So, nothing really stands out.

Everyone sort of sat in their rooms. I guess, looking back at it now, I fully understand the measures. But I guess, whenever we got on a plane, we went from a bubble to a plane where we just had to wear the masks and suits and fully geared up and stuff and that really didn't make sense because we could all in a hotel room together and that morning, we had to wear a suit to go on a plane, which was only us on the plane to go. Lot of things that didn't make sense. But I really enjoyed my time with the Punjab Kings. It was just a shame that I didn't get the full experience of the IPL, playing in front of full houses and yeah, experience that fully.

As a senior player, what would be your advice to youngsters, not only in franchise cricket but also in internationals, especially Test cricket?

You wanna be yourself, and you wanna be able to handle pressure as well as you can, playing a game that comes naturally to you. But also, I think, one of the things that I always looked at cricket from is you are there to win games of cricket. No matter what format you play, you want to be the guy that walks off the field at the end of a game, whether you are bowling the last over or you are winning the game with the bat. That's where you get judged on. So, I would always say, do all you can to win games of cricket and be there at the end to win those games because they are the best moments in cricket.