Every time Eoin Morgan was given a Sky microphone in the aftermath of England’s reality check of a defeat in their World Cup opener against New Zealand, there was one particular message that he kept on reinforcing –“they didn’t go hard enough.”

Despite England’s failure to lay a glove on Ravindra and Conway, the blame, for the World Cup winning captain at least, lay firmly at the feet of the batters who could only muster a sub-par total of 282. For Morgan, even though three of the top seven were caught in the deep, it was a lack of intent that was the root cause of England’s problems.

There was a thinly veiled critique of Dawid Malan in particular, by some distance England’s form ODI player in 2023. “It’s a different dynamic at the top of the order now with Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow,” said Morgan. “It’s probably more responsibility on Bairstow to lead the charge and be that pace-setter whereas previously it’s been Jason Roy who does it almost in default mode – that is his natural game. Again, I’d probably say ‘no’, they didn’t go hard enough.”

Malan succumbed for a 24-ball 14 at the top of the order against New Zealand, a far cry from the turbo-charged starts England benefited from in 2019 from Bairstow’s former opening partner Roy, who averaged more than 60 and struck at 115 as England became world champions for the first time.

Criticism of Malan’s knock in the tournament opener felt harsh. He encountered an outstanding new ball spell from Matt Henry – that occasionally happens, even to the very best players in the world. But the comparison with Peak Roy was interesting. However consistent Malan has been, he had not really replicated the tone-setting explosiveness that Roy was famed for when he was at his best.

Even in the recent series at home to the Black Caps where he nailed down his spot in the XI ahead of Roy with scores of 54, 96 and 127, his starts were fast, but not lightning. There, he reached fifty off 48, 52 and 50 deliveries respectively. In no other team on the planet would this be worthy of any sort of scrutiny, but given the side’s philosophy and the identity of the man he was replacing, it wasn’t irrelevant. Across England’s three must-win matches before the 2019 final, Roy and Bairstow scored 407 runs as a partnership at a run rate of 6.99. At their best, they blasted England to starts that were hard for opposition sides to claw back from.

Against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, Malan chose the perfect moment to display his full range. On a quicker wicket than the one England played on in Ahmedabad, it was Malan, not Bairstow as Morgan anticipated, that was responsible for England’s rapid start. Malan shot out of the blocks, racing to a 39-ball fifty – comfortably his fastest in ODI cricket. Ten overs in, Malan was 32 off 26 with his partner Bairstow on 29 from 34 – the left-hander was the player most obviously asserting his authority on the innings, characteristically strong through the covers but equally ruthless towards anything bowled at his front hip.

By the time Bairstow fell, Malan had reached 61 off 48 which soon became 69 off 51. At this point, with Shakib Al Hasan bowling a tight stump-to-stump spell and a shallower batting order beneath him than there was at Ahmedabad, Malan reigned in the aggression. There were 30 overs remaining and as Ben Stokes recently remarked, there’s more time in an ODI innings than players often appreciate.

He eventually reached three figures off 91 deliveries, his fastest hundred against a Full Member nation. From that moment, Malan was devastating as he blitzed 40 from his final 16 deliveries at the crease. He walked off the field with his fourth ODI hundred of the year – a joint national record – and his highest score in the format. It was an innings that saw a combination of his typical control with targeted aggression.

Malan posted extraordinary numbers in order to force his way into the ODI side, eventually displacing one of the 2019 heroes. He has basically done everything he’s been asked to do to end up in this XI. That he has adapted once more to do what England require of him should come as no surprise.