Malan is the T20I MVP

Dawid Malan is the PCA T20I Most Valuable Player for summer 2020 following England’s 2-1 series win over Australia on Tuesday evening.

The classy batsman has been the anchor of England’s batting line-up throughout three-match series against both Australia and Pakistan, finishing the summer with 51 MVP points in T20Is at an average of 8.55 points-per-game.

Malan has clearly been England’s most effective batsman in the format. He finishes with 47 MVP points in that discipline specifically – well clear of the Three Lions’ second best performing batsman Tom Banton who has 37.5 to his name.

The T20I MVP was also England’s match-winner on one occasion, claiming the Player of the Match award with 21.67 MVP points after making 66 during his side’s thrilling two-run victory over Australia on Friday 4 September.

He holds off Banton, who finishes second with 42.5 MVP points, and third placed Adil Rashid, who bowled beautifully on Tuesday evening to make it into the top three with 41.5 points.

Jos Buttler astonishingly finishes fourth having only appeared in two 20-over fixtures this summer. He accrued 34.5 points whilst the evergreen Eoin Morgan, whose captaincy duties were fulfilled by Moeen Ali on Tuesday, completes the top five with 34 points.

It is not the first time Malan has won the award. He was named the T20I MVP for 2017/18 after topping the Rankings with 41.75 points following England’s tours of Australia and New Zealand that winter.

The MVP algorithm was designed by the PCA in conjunction with the players to identify the match-winning performers in any given fixture. On top of traditional batting and bowling averages, bonus points are given for key disciplines such as scoring quick runs, claiming top-order wickets and taking catches in the field.

At the conclusion of the 2020 summer, four MVPs will be named for the England men’s side: one for each of the three main formats as well as a cross-format Overall MVP.

The Rankings will take on extra significance in the lead-up to next year’s postponed T20 World Cup in India.

Big-hitting batsman Banton joins Malan in putting himself firmly in the frame for selection, having led the Rankings at the halfway point of the T20I summer following an excellent series against Pakistan.

A settled England side is likely to have few other selection dilemmas, though there may be World Cup spots up for grabs in the fast bowling department. 

Chris Jordan was England’s top MVP performer in that department this summer with 18.73 points in the discipline, whilst the rapid duo of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer finished almost level with 15.5 and 14 bowling MVP points respectively.

In the far more immediate future, though, Morgan’s men will turn their attention to three ODI fixtures against the same opposition beginning at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday.

With England having completed a 2-1 ODI series win over Ireland earlier on in the summer, David Willey currently leads the 50-over MVP with 93 points to his name at average of 31 points-per-game, albeit with a number of star names having missed that series due to it clashing with the Test schedule.

Sam Billings (40 points), Adil Rashid (39), Morgan (38) and Jonny Bairstow (21.5) make up the remainder of the format-specific top five.

We will also know the identity of the cross-format Overall MVP following the conclusion of the ODI series next Wednesday. The Ranking is currently dominated by Test players, with Stuart Broad (146.5 points), Ben Stokes (120) and Buttler (118) currently leading the way.

View the T20I MVP Rankings here.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest MVP news by following the @pcaMVP on Twitter.