Dawid Malan admits England’s final World Cup match against Pakistan could be his last international game as side eye huge overhaul

Dawid Malan admitted that Saturday’s World Cup game against Pakistan in Kolkata could be his last for England.

Malan, 36, has comfortably been England’s stand-out batter in their disastrous World Cup defence, with 373 runs across eight games at an average of 46.62.

Though with England’s Managing Director, Rob Key and National Selector, Luke Wright, arriving in India this week and a squad overhaul expected after the World Cup, Malan revealed that it could be the end of the road for him as an international cricketer.

‘I’m in a unique situation as the second oldest in this team. I don’t know what my future holds, whether that’s my choice or the team’s choice. Saturday could be my last game of cricket for England or it could be the start of another journey’, said Malan. 

‘I’ve always wanted to be a part of this team and play for England for as long as I can but ultimately, with age you have to look a little bit further ahead and look at what’s best for the team and everything else. I guess there’s decisions to be made over the next couple of days once the dust has settled.’

The opener has been the stand-out batter for England in what has been a disastrous defence

Malan has only played 29 ODI’s for England, since making his debut in 2019. He waited over two years for his next ODI appearance but with six hundreds since then and a career average of 56.76, his average is fifth in the all-time list of batters who have had at least 20 ODI innings.

And Malan stressed how he would still be keen to be a part of any England rebuild after the tournament, having just signed a one-year deal.

‘If they want experience around someone who’s played quite a bit and played in the way that the team wants to play, I’d love to still be around and do it but as I said, when you get to this stage of being the second oldest it’s usually them that go first, regardless of results and that’s part and parcel of the game,’ said Malan.

With six defeats in eight games, England’s horror World Cup defence has come as a surprise to most, including Malan.

England are set for a major rebuild after the game with a number of players expected to move on from ODI duty

England managing director Rob Key is to arrive in India this week with a number of key decisions to be made

‘We’re probably as shocked as everyone else that we’ve not lived up to the standard that we wanted to live up to and win games of cricket. 

‘For whatever reason we just haven’t been good enough and we need to hold our hands up and take responsibility for that,’ he said. 

‘There’s massive disappointment and regret from us all that we haven’t been able to perform as well as we would have as a team. 

‘We’d have loved to have been here at the business end and replicating what that fantastic team did in 2019 and what we did in the T20 World Cup but it just hasn’t been and as a group reflecting on it, we’re extremely disappointed with that.’