There are very few cricket teams and players across the globe which get showered with love irrespective of whether they are the opponent or not. One such team is South Africa. But after the departure of their legends, the team has found themselves in various kinds of mishaps, from the decline in team rankings to the team avoiding a near-complete ban from ICC. It wouldn’t be a farfetched statement if one had to say that the team is chasing the shadow of their legendary team of the last decade.
But recently, one man seems to have poured in new energy to the South African top order lineup in ODIs. The topic of our piece today is none other than Janneman Malan. Of course, England’s Dawid Malan is also creating havoc in T20 format (Current world no.1 T20 batsman), but we’ll be discussing that particular ‘Malan’ one some other day.
Even though Janneman has just started with his international career, why has he been hogging the limelight then? Let’s find out ahead in this piece.
Janneman Malan’s T20 performance
Malan received his first international call in 2019 in the T20 format against Pakistan. Till the present day, the young man has accumulated 241 runs in 11 innings. With only one-half century till now, he has the batting average of 21.91, which might rise ahead considering that most of his scores have been double-digit, which is a good sign in this format. His strike rate, too, has been decent enough to get him continuous chances (S/R-129.57)
- Janneman Malan in T20Is
His effectiveness still needs to be proved, though, because surprisingly, nine of his 11 innings have been against Pakistan only and the remaining two against Ireland. However, keeping in mind that the T20 World Cup is around the corner, South Africans will be praying hard that Malan’s inexperience against the other heavyweights won’t create a headache for them in the tournament.
Exceptional form in ODIs
- Janneman Malan in ODIs
The only numbers of Malan’s T20 and ODI career currently that are nearly on equal grounds are his number of innings played, i.e., nine innings in ODIs and 11 in T20s. He has scored nearly triple the runs in ODIs, at four times the average of his T20 average! 645 runs at an average of 92.14 (the average was previously an astonishing 104.5 before his last night’s early dismissal against Sri Lanka!), Malan has been nothing but extraordinary at the opening slot for South Africa.
- Janneman Malan’s Inning by Inning run Trajectory in ODIs
Three centuries and two fifties in this short career of ten innings, it still is surprising that Janneman’s ODI career started with a golden duck! And how did he bounce back from that? By giving back to Aussies in the subsequent encounter with a match-winning not-out century. With a 50+ score against each of the teams he has faced so far, Janneman Malan is bringing in the stability that the team needed for the top order these past years.
Conclusion
Of course, Janneman will see these insane numbers declining moving forward in his career. But the promise and the capability with which this young man has arrived on the international format is undoubtedly what the Proteas have been on the lookout for their squad. So, who knows, we might see Janneman bring in his golden touch of ODIs in the T20 World Cup and might help to fill in the world cup trophy cabinet of South Africa.
