Dawid Malan feels dropped catches by Pakistan led England side to victory

• I thought the wicket was really good, says England batter.
• Dawid Malan thanks PCB for putting on such a good show.
• Malan also praised the crowd in Karachi and Lahore.

KARACHI: The game changer of the decider T20I between Pakistan and England, Dawid Malan feels that catches dropped by Pakistan allowed England to build a solid partnership which helped England post a big total.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News following England’s win by 67 runs in the 7th T20I, the 35-year-old cricketer said that after seeing the wicket, they had realized that 160, 170 wouldn’t be an enough total and that’s why they took the chances.

“I thought the wicket was really good. I thought first 12, 14 overs the ball came on beautifully. We luckily got a few chances. We had a few dropped catches that went our way, they created a partnership for us, and we were able to have bat deep without losing any wickets,” Malan said while talking to Geo for segment Game Changer.

Pakistan dropped 3 catches throughout the innings. Malan was dropped twice – first when he was at 29 from 19 and then when he was at 62 off 39. He went to score an unbeaten 78 off 47. His partner Harry Brook was dropped when he was batting at 24 off 17, he managed to score 46 from 29 as both added 108 runs for the third wicket in 61 deliveries.

“When we've seen this wicket, we realised that sort of 161-170 wasn't a winning score, especially with a due factor. So, we took the chance to try and score as many more or a lot more runs than you can then I think it paid off tonight,” the England batter said.

“Every team has their own way of approaching a T20. I don't think there's any right or wrong way. We got it wrong in a couple of games and we got it right towards the end here,” he said when asked if approach in batting was the major difference between the two teams.

He also spoke about the strategy of England’s batting line and said that it is important for players to bat with a ridiculous strike rate in England’s white-ball team and there’s a challenge for everyone.

“We always want to take a positive option. We are encouraged to play smart cricket and play what the conditions tell us to play. So, if it's a 200 wicket, we have to better the strike rate to score 200. And, if we're chasing 140, we need to bat at the strike rate to win 140,” he said about England’s batting style.

“When you play T20 cricket for England with all the white ballplayers that are going around, you have to be able to bat at a ridiculous strike rate if it's your day. And, you have to be able to win games, which is more important. So, if you do have a day out, you don't want to score 60 or 70 and lose the game, you want to have a score of 60 70 80 and win the game and that's always the challenge for us as players,” he added.

Malan was among the players who were first to say yes when a question was asked about touring Pakistan for the final of PSL in 2017. Talking about how things have changed in Pakistan since that PSL final in Lahore, the England cricketer said that he feels proud to play an important part in something which helped bring cricket back to Pakistan.

“I don't think all those years ago would have thought that four of us or eight of us coming over to Pakistan for a final would have changed cricket so dramatically here and change the landscape for Cricket, from my side incredibly proud that I've played a small part in that,” he said.

“But once again, thanks to all the security people in the PCB for putting on such a good show for us who've been looked after so well and felt extremely safe,” Malan said.

Malan said that whether or not one score runs as individuals, players share information with each other so that they can grow as a group.

“We want each other to grow and get better and we want the team to grow and get better. So, any information that we have, we share with each other, we want to win as many trophies as we can and want to win as many games we can and the only way we can do those together and to share that information,” he highlighted.

Malan also praised the crowd in Karachi and Lahore and said that playing in front of full houses was an unbelievable experience for him and his teammates.

“We're very used to playing in India and seeing all those big crowds and to come here and see the same amount of passion for Pakistan cricket as what you see around the world. It's been fantastic. It's been an unbelievable experience to play in front of the full houses and to hear them support the Pakistan team and chanting Babar and Rizwan all the time. It gives you goosebumps,” he concluded.