3 teams who could sign Dawid Malan at IPL 2021 Auction
The rise of Dawid Malan in T20 cricket, especially for England, has been sensational, to say the least. The 33-year-old made his T20I debut back in 2017. But given the unbelievable strength of England's top-order in white-ball cricket, it was obvious that he wouldn't be a consistent starter for his nation.
In a period of almost four years, Dawid Malan has played only 19 T20Is. But such has been the amazing consistency of the man that he has scored 855 runs at an outstanding average of 53.43. The left-handed batsman also has a T20I century to his name.
His prolific performances have managed to keep a world-class batsman like Joe Root out of England's T20I setup for a while. So, from a fringe player, Malan has sensationally cemented his place in England's team in the shortest format of the game and has become the No.1-ranked T20I batsman.
3 IPL teams who would benefit from having Dawid Malan in their squad
It is a shame that a batsman of such class and consistency is yet to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is considered one of the best T20 leagues in the world.
However, with Dawid Malan in such red-hot form and the IPL 2021 Auction less than a week away, there will definitely be a few teams who will be eyeing the services of the Englishman.
The 33-year-old has proved that even conventional cricketing shots can help a batsman be successful in T20 cricket. Here are three such teams who would benefit the most by having Dawid Malan in their ranks.
#3 Rajasthan Royals (RR)
The Rajasthan Royals had a mixed bag of an IPL 2020 season. It took them several games to find their ideal combination, especially at the top of the order. The likes of Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Robin Uthappa were all tried in the opening slots.
By the time they sorted out their best possible playing XI, RR had to face the Kolkata Knight Riders in a do-or-die game to qualify for the playoffs. Unfortunately, they lost that game and had to bow out of the tournament, surprisingly finishing rock-bottom.
The Rajashtan Royals decided to take some bold calls and released their skipper Smith ahead of the upcoming IPL season. This has opened up a slot at No.3 for an experienced batsman to play as an anchor in the RR batting line-up.
This would suit Dawid Malan as he could play the anchor's role and provide some steel to RR's batting. The presence of fellow England players like Buttler, Stokes, and Jofra Archer in the Rajasthan Royals camp would also help the 33-year-old gel quickly with the team.
RR have ₹34.85 crore left in their kitty and have three overseas slots available. They will fancy themselves securing the services of Dawid Malan if there is a bidding war for the southpaw.
#2 Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)
Kings XI Punjab's IPL 2020 season was full of highs and lows. While the likes of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal were topping the run-scoring charts, most of the other batsmen failed to deliver consistently. Glenn Maxwell endured a torrid campaign as he managed just 108 runs in 13 innings.
Maxwell has been released by KXIP ahead of the IPL 2021 season, and the franchise are keen to add a number of fresh players in their line-up to help them rebuild. Thus, Dawid Malan certainly has a role in this KXIP team, who are set to undergo a revamp.
Despite winning the Orange Cap last season, KL Rahul came in for criticism for having a low strike rate. The problem was that there was no one else who could anchor the innings, while the likes of Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and others played their shots.
Malan's arrival in the team would enable him to take up Rahul's role, giving the KXIP skipper and others the freedom to express themselves and make full use of the powerplay restrictions.
KXIP have the highest kitty with ₹53.20 crore remaining and have five overseas slots available. If they are able to pip the other teams to Dawid Malan's signature, it will certainly improve their chances of winning that elusive maiden IPL title.
Check the current IPL Auction rules here.
#1 Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
No matter how many good batsmen are bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, it always seems they are too dependant on skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Their experiment with Aaron Finch didn't work out in IPL 2020 and they had to release the Australian opener. Here is how Dawid Malan could solve RCB's batting woes. Malan's presence at No.3 would allow Kohli to open the innings alongside Devdutt Padikkal.
The RCB captain's most prolific season in 2016 ,where he scored four hundreds, came as an opener. This would also mean that AB de Villiers would then bat at No.4, and would be present at the death to finish RCB's innings in style.
Thus, the signing of Malan would make a solid top four for the RCB team. They have the second-highest kitty with ₹34.90 crore remaining and four overseas slots available. It will be interesting to see whether they go for Dawid Malan or try their luck on someone else.