‘It’s all about making right choices under pressure’ – Dawid Malan wants England to 'take on' Australia before it's late

England is going through a massive crisis after losing the first two Test matches. Former players and cricket pundits have criticized the team. The English team might make a few changes to the playing XI in the next Test.

The team didn’t just commit mistakes on the ground, but the squad selection was also not according to the condition. England left James Anderson and Stuart Broad during the first Test and suffered a considerable loss. Then they brought in both the pacers and Jack Leach; the only spinner was dropped.

Dawid Malan is the only player alongside Joe Root to score half-centuries in the series. The ability to leave the ball is one aspect that has helped players score runs in Australia. Malan pointed out the success of the likes of David Warner, Steven Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne is because they were able to judge the ball perfectly throughout the two matches. Malan also mentioned that in order to succeed, English players would have to develop an attacking mindset.

“Everyone is up for the challenge, everyone is really keen to face up to Australia,” Malan said. “We do it in white-ball cricket, we take them on…so hopefully we can get that mindset and not go into our shells and just try to survive, take the game to them,” Malan was quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Malan points out the fact that this English team is inexperienced

Malan mentioned that the team didn’t have the right preparation, and only a few players have experience of playing in Australia. Hence, the batters are trying to find ways of facing the Australian bowling attack, something that they have not done. Also, they are not used to the bounce that the Australian pitches offer.

“We are almost learning in Test matches because we haven’t had that preparation. A lot of the guys haven’t played in Australia so are trying to find ways of facing bowlers they haven’t faced before but also to get used to bounce here. This wicket might be slightly skiddier so we don’t want to go out and leave and get bowled or lbw now, but it is about learning,” Malan said.

Malan also talked about the soft dismissals and mentioned that these balls could have been easily left. He also pointed out that the batters need to learn on the go and quickly.

“I know there’s a lead-up to dismissals and how bowlers set you up, but a lot of our dismissals were probably soft in the sense that we could have left them. You still have to score, but it’s about making the right choices under pressure, myself included. If you look at the way they have batted, the ones who have done really well, they’ve left really well so it’s a good learning curve for us. Hopefully it’s not too late,” Malan said.