Dawid Malan looks unlikely to be fit to play in England’s 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against India on Thursday, after he injured his groin fielding against Sri Lanka. England now have a few days to figure out their plan B.
Despite being a key figure for England over the last few years and their highest-ranked batter by the ICC T20I rlayer Rankings, Malan has been under pressure since the start of the tournament, as England’s slow run rate in the middle order has threatened to derail their campaign. He has averaged 28.00 in the competition, striking at 82.35 which is the lowest rate of any England batter this tournament.
England have a problem in the middle order, where Ben Stokes has not scored at the rate many expected him to at No.4 and Harry Brook has also not been the revelation his form in the seven-match T20I series against Pakistan indicated he would be. The batting hasn’t clicked for England yet in the tournament, but they have several options to replace Malan and free themselves up to deliver on their individual potential.
Salt in, Stokes moves to No.3
Stokes reminded England fans of his importance as he saw them home over Sri Lanka in their final Super 12 match. Whilst he did not put in the performances which are expected of him in England’s warm-up games, or in their Super 12s matches, his calmness in anchoring the innings when England needed it most showed exactly why he is so valuable in their line-up. Moving him one place up the order may be exactly what England need to give their batting line-up a more balanced feel going forward, with the criticism of both him and Malan playing being that England have too many anchors in their top order.
If Stokes is able to calmly go about his business at No.3, that would free England up to either play another batter in the middle order in Phil Salt, who England have backed as a finisher in the past. It could also free up Brook from needing to come in and immediately hit boundaries to catch up with the strike rate, improving his performances. A win-win scenario in theory.
Salt in as a straight swap
If England do choose to go with Salt over an extra bowler, then he could either slot Salt in at three or push Hales down a place, with Salt opening. It looks more likely they would go for the latter option, with Hales the more experienced of the two and more able to adapt and limit his aggression when required.
Hales has had a quiet tournament after edging out Salt as Buttler’s default partner at the top, but his 47 off 30 against Sri Lanka shows he may be finding his feet. Nevertheless, if Salt came off in the top three, he would certainly succeed in freeing up the middle-order, with a strike rate of 164.33. He is also the only replacement batter in England’s squad, including the reserves, so if England want to replace Malan with a batter, they will have to fit him in somewhere.
Salt in, Moeen Ali up to No.3
Moeen looked like England’s most in-form batter in the warm-ups for the tournament, and also batted at three against New Zealand in the hope of scoring a bigger total than if Malan came in first. He is used to batting up the order in T20s, having done so for Worcestershire in the T20 Blast and franchise tournaments. However, he is at his best when coming in at the end as a finisher or floating depending on where England require him. Putting him at three would limit the side’s flexibility.
The extra bowler
Given their plethora of all-rounders in Sam Curran, Moeen, Liam Livingstone and Chris Woakes, England have a great depth of batting, meaning without Malan they can afford to add an extra bowler into their side with only small ramifications for their potential with the bat. They could promote Chris Jordan from his role as a specialist fielder so far in the competition, he also offers depth with the bat and skills at the death. He has only played one T20I since injuring his finger, which ruled him out of England’s tour of Pakistan, in which he failed to take a wicket and went at 13 an over.
They could go with David Willey to introduce another left-arm option and more experience opening the bowling. He was good in Pakistan and in the second T20I against Australia and again offers runs lower down the order. They could also try Tymal Mills, after he replaced Reece Topley in the squad, though while experienced in high-pressure situations he has only played four T20Is this year.
However, England’s riches of all-rounders leaves them with little need of an extra bowler, especially if Livingstone and Moeen Ali can combine through a couple of overs.
The Dawson beacon
Related to the above, if Malan is ruled out of the remainder of the tournament, they could dip into the reserves, with Liam Dawson’s left-arm spin an intriguing option. There is evidence that finger-spin turning away from the right-hander is the best way to attack Suryakumar Yadav, while India’s right-hand-heavy batting line-up could struggle against Dawson’s tweak.
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