IPL 2021: Malan flaunts the famous ‘thigh-five’ celebration in the nets
England batsman Dawid Malan has joined the preparation camps of Punjab Kings for the upcoming season of the IPL 2021. The franchise shared a video of the left-handed batsman sweating it out in the nets ahead of the 14th edition of the cash-rich league. This will be the first season for Malan in the league as well.
The left-handed batsman from Yorkshire is currently ranked no. 1 in the ICC T20I batsmen’s rankings. He was bought by the Punjab Kings for his base price of INR 1.5 crore. Even after being ranked the world no.1, Malan didn’t attract any other buyer at the auction, much to the surprise of many.
In the video which was shared by Punjab Kings, Malan was seen practicing with the bat, trying to smash a couple of blows in the nets. At the end of the video, the batsman was also seen doing the famous thigh-five celebration, which is often associated with the Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan.
Malan still tops the ICC T20I batsmen’s rankings
Some of the other stars of the Punjab Kings were also seen in the video such as Chris Jordan. The team was seen practicing at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. They are scheduled to play their opening match of the tournament against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
That 'burraaaah' in the end hits right where it should! 💘#SaddaPunjab #IPL2021 #PunjabKings @dmalan29 pic.twitter.com/jpGsfAFvP2
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 1, 2021
Malan has been in India for some time now. The 33-year-old played all the five T20Is against India in Ahmedabad last month. He ended the series with 148 runs from five innings, which included a fifty. His strike rate was questioned during the series. He also played two ODIs, scoring his maiden fifty in the format.
Even after that average outing in the T20I series, he is still holding on to the no.1 position in T20Is with 892 points. During the series against India, he also became the fastest to reach 1000 runs in T20I cricket. He got to the landmark in just 24 innings. His current average in T20Is is 50.15 while his strike rate is 144.31.
