Cricket
Exclusive: Janneman Malan Aims for a Solid Domestic Season with the North West Dragons.
Janneman Malan is determined to rediscover his best form with the North West Dragons as he aims for a strong domestic season. After a dip in form, the Proteas batsman is focused on enjoying cricket again and hopes for a potential return to international play.
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Janneman Malan has not given up on playing for South Africa, and he is using his move to the North West Dragons to reset and refresh in an attempt to rediscover his best form.
A promising international career halted by a poor run of form.
Janemann Malan's short International career hit a speedbump, and it's taking a while to regain momentum.
After having been an integral part of the Proteas One Day International (ODI) set-up, he has missed out on selection since the 2-1 series loss against India in 2022.
The 28-year-old boasts an impressive ODI average of 47.90 in the 23 matches he has played for South Africa.
He has scored three centuries with a high score of 177 not out against Ireland in 2021. His five half tons also played a huge role in him being voted the ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year and being among the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year in 2022.
Despite his achievement in the 2021 season, Malan went through a lean patch the following year, and he was ultimately dropped from the national side.
Prior to the India series, he scored 235 runs in nine matches at an average of 26.11, and the 62 runs he scored against India in the three match ODI series took his run tally for the year to 297 with two half centuries.
Malan told SportsBoom that as he looks ahead to the upcoming season, his biggest goal is to enjoy playing cricket again, and he knows that positive things will come out if he plays the game out of enjoyment.
The dip in form that came at a price, but not all hope is lost.
“I can only answer from my perspective, if you look at what happened (being dropped), I think it was just a lot of things coming together, of course I was struggling with form a bit,” he told SportsBoom.com.
“There were a couple of series’ where I didn't knock the lights out, but I think everyone goes through dips, and it was just unfortunate that I was going through that.”
“At that time I couldn’t see a way out, and I also think there was a change of management at the Proteas, and I respect that they wanted to go in a different direction.”
“They had players that they believed should be in the squads, and I respect that, and obviously it was players that made runs.”
“But at the end of the day, it's a lot of stuff that came together, and I just had to score runs, and to be honest, I just think I didn’t score enough runs and it's that simple.”
If I can get the belief and trust in my abilities and enjoy the game, I obviously still want to play at the highest level again. It's not something that is in front of my mind; for now I just want to enjoy the game, because it has been something I've been missing the last couple of years.
Janneman Malan
The move from West to North
Malan scored a hard-fought 40 off 46 balls in his first outing for the Dragons on Saturday, and he played a huge role in his side's three-run victory away to the Knights in Bloemfontein in their first T20 Challenge fixture of the season.
The right-handed batsman made the move from Boland to give his cricket a fresh perspective after a couple of seasons without performing to his level best, and he believes something needed to change.
“It was something that kind of happened naturally without forcing anything. I was obviously in a bit of a bad patch with my cricket, and I felt a change was needed.”
“I had an opportunity to move to the North West Dragons, and I think it was a positive move for me to have a refresher and enjoy cricket again. I won't put pressure on myself because when I enjoy playing and play for the team, naturally I play at my best.”
The Dragons will next play Western Province at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Friday in the T20 Challenge.
Obakeng - A passionate sports fan at heart that had a dream to be a professional soccer player or cricketer. He was introduced into the world of MotoGP and Formula One by Brad Binder's dominant moto3 championship win and he has not looked back. He is able to live through his passion for sport through writing, and he is a sport writer for the Independent Newspapers in South Africa.