‘Every Tom, Dick and Harry has an opinion on you’ – Dawid Malan hits out at former selector ED Smith for dropping him

England batter Dawid Malan has come down hard on former national selector Ed Smith for dropping him from the Test squad back in 2018. The southpaw made his Test debut in 2017 against South Africa and played some impressive knocks. In December 2017, he smashed 140 versus Australia in Perth. Malan followed the knock up with a half-century in Sydney.

However, since then, he lost touch completely and went out of contention after the 2018 Edgbaston Test against India. Malan has recently made a comeback to England’s Test squad ahead of the match versus India at the Headingley in Leeds. The left-hander is most likely to bat at number three.

In the meantime, Malan recalled how getting dropped from the Test team three years ago hampered his mental well-being. He criticised Smith for derailing his career.

It probably did affect me for four or five months, says Dawid Malan

“When you get dropped, you’re very emotional. And once the dust settles you look back and think, ‘Do you know what? I didn’t score enough runs, particularly in those last four or five Tests’. But those comments didn’t help,” Malan was quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

“You work your socks off to earn the right to play for England but then you get comments that derail you and make you pigeon-holed. It’s amazing then how every Tom, Dick and Harry has an opinion on you and every time you nick off, those comments come back to bite you,” he stated.

“It probably did affect me for four or five months and every time I went away for tournaments, I couldn’t get in the right headspace. But after a bit of a break when I had gathered my thoughts, I found a new lease of life,” Malan added.

In 15 Tests, Malan has scored 724 runs at an average of 27.84 with one century and six half-centuries. As far as the ongoing Test series is concerned, Joe Root and Co. are trailing by 0-1 after the shambolic 151-run loss at the Lord’s. England’s batting was found wanting in that game as the Indian bowlers wreaked havoc.