"People's jobs are being scrutinized" - Dawid Malan and England now eye Champions Trophy qualification after 2023 World Cup disaster

Accepting that it's almost impossible for England to reach the 2023 World Cup semi-finals after losing five of their first six matches, Dawid Malan has now shifted his focus on qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

It was recently confirmed that the team finishing in the top seven at the World Cup plus hosts Pakistan will qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Although the qualification criteria were ratified in an ICC meeting in 2021, some boards, including those whose teams didn't reach the World Cup, have said they were unaware of it.

Malan, 36, admitted that the 2025 tournament is a "long way away" and he might not participate in it, but said he wants to achieve the qualification for future players.

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"People's jobs are being scrutinized and players' careers are being scrutinised," he said. "We have a hell of a lot to play for in the last three. The last thing you want - if the decision gets made to move on from players - is that we haven't done well enough to give other players the opportunity in future to play in big tournaments. That's what you play the game for: you want to be in the Champions Trophy and the World Cup, things like that."

Currently, Bangladesh and England are the bottom-ranked teams in the World Cup and thus, in the danger zone. The latter still have three matches to play - against Australia (placed fourth), the Netherlands (eighth), and Pakistan (fifth).

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"I can't put my finger on it" - Dawid Malan

Malan, who is England's top run-scorer in this World Cup, was as out of answers as anyone else while trying to explain his and the defending champions' misery.

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"I feel like I am playing well, but just finding ways of getting out," he said. "We just can't get anything going with the bat and get a score on the board. I can't put my finger on it."

England and Australia will take on each other in Ahmedabad on Saturday, November 4.

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