England batter Dawid Malan was elated to be able to sport the whites for his country in the Ashes 2021-22 and help bring the tourists out of danger in the ongoing first Test against Australia in Brisbane.
Malan played a gritty knock of an unbeaten 80, as well as stitched a stirring unbeaten partnership of 159* for the third wicket with Joe Root (86*) to push England to 220/2 at stumps, trailing by 58 runs against Australia in the ongoing first Ashes Test at The Gabba, Brisbane.
Following his impressive knock on a blazing hot day three, the 30-year-old said that he enjoyed every minute of his innings, saying Test cricket is the pinnacle for him and being able to play against the best bowlers going around and too in the Ashes in Australia, it gives him a different level of satisfaction.
The South Africa-born cricketer also admitted that he thought his Test cricket career was over before he was recalled for the home series against India in August 2021.
Notably, Malan played 14 Tests in 2017–2018 since making his debut for England against South Africa in 2017, and the ongoing first Test was his 18th Test match in Brisbane.
Malan told reporters: “Test cricket is the pinnacle for me. You can do as well as you want in T20 or 50-over cricket, but you are judged by your Test career at the end of it. So to come to Australia -- to come on these bouncy wickets against these fast bowlers, that's the test, especially for us in an Ashes series.”
He further added, “I thought I would never play another Test again. I said to 'Rootie' when we were both on 40 or 50 -- the Barmy Army was singing and I said to him I've really missed this -- someone trying to blow my head off, and the crowd going, and the adrenaline flowing and playing against the best bowlers going around.”
Malan signed off by saying, “So to be able to stand out there and wear an England shirt makes me so proud. It's good fun, really good fun.”
(With AFP Inputs)
