25 August,2021 09:33 AM IST | Leeds | IANS
England batsman Dawid Malan. Pic/PTI
The last time England batsman Dawid Malan played Test cricket was three years back against India at Edgbaston where his butterfingers allowed India skipper Virat Kohli breathing space and the opportunity to resurrect his poor record in England.
Kohli had a torrid time in England in 2014 and James Anderson had the psychological edge on the India skipper playing his first Test innings on the 2018 tour.
Kohli, batting on 21, edged one from Anderson but Malan dropped a sitter in slips. Later, when Kohli was on 51, Malan dropped him off Stokes, again in the slips. Malan also gave a chance to Murali Vijay in the second innings of that Test.
Kohli cashed in on the chances and hit 149 and aggregated 593 runs in five Test matches. "Yeah, I can't forget that, actually. I don't think I can forget dropping Virat 2-3 times and him getting 150 (149). So that wasn't my best memory of Test cricket, I can imagine," Malan said to the media during an interaction.
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"That just shows you, that is Test cricket. It is amazing that just before your time ends, things just go wrong. You stop scoring runs, you drop catches, everything just falls apart. Yeah, not the best memory," added Malan who is expected to bat at No. 3.
That, in fact, seemed to be the end of Malan's Test career. Malan said he hasn't been in slips much since then but also mentioned the problem of adjusting to specialist fielding position in Test cricket after being made to field all over the ground.
"Haven't been in slips much since then and that is the toughest thing when you field at different positions in county cricket and then come into Test cricket and (are) slotted into a position that you don't do very often," he said further.
"That is no excuse though when you work your socks off to play for England and you get all the opportunities to do that. Hopefully, if I get there, then I will catch a few of those."
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