Andre Malan now swims with big fish ... like Kagiso Rabada and Temba Bavuma. Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images.
For someone who has only played eight franchise matches for the Highveld Lions, the last week has been a dizzying arrival on to the global stage for Andre Malan, the North-West batsman.
The 26-year-old right-hander was the 15th player drafted by the Joburg Giants for the T20 Global League, the middle of three brothers who enjoyed a spectacular weekend for the Malan family.
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All of them earned gigs in the lucrative tournament that will start on November 3.
The middle Malan was one of three Giants players introduced to the media and invited guests at the franchise’s launch at the Wanderers.
The other two were Kagiso Rabada and Temba Bavuma, a stunning reminder of the company he will now be keeping.
“The draft was nerve-wracking enough and you only realise later what a huge opportunity this league provides. I’m only a semi-pro cricketer at the moment, but now I’m sitting next to Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada, I’m a bit awestruck. To think I’ll have to face KG and Vernon Philander three times a week in the nets!
“But it’s a great opportunity for me to make myself known because at the moment I’m not well-known, I’m on the fringes of South African cricket. But now I get to learn from world-class cricketers like KG and Temba, I get to work with Brendon McCullum and play with Roelof van der Merwe again – we went to the same school [Hoërskool Waterkloof]. Someone like Yasir Shah with all his sub-continent experience is now a team-mate.
“I get to work with and learn from so many great cricketers. Someone like Colin Ingram is an amazing player and I was lucky enough to play against him in the RamSlam T20 Challenge two years ago. He’s done amazing things in England,” Malan said.
Rubbing shoulders with such an array of talent can only broaden Malan’s horizons.
“I want to get to know their mindset, learn what you should and shouldn’t do in certain situations. I’m excited to get to know all those stars as people too, because teamwork is one of the biggest factors in a winning team,” the Nelspruit product said.
With a guaranteed $10 000 (about R130 000) in his pocket, Malan can now seal the deal in terms of the lovely lady he is in love with as well.
“It’s all a bit unbelievable, the biggest thing that has ever happened in my career and now I can provide for my family and hopefully have enough money to buy an engagement ring for my girlfriend,” he said.
It certainly is a time of great celebration in the Malan family, with youngest brother Janneman being based in Bloemfontein with the Bloem City Blazers and the 28-year-old Pieter getting a spot in the Cape Town Knight Riders.
“I’m very proud and we are close to best friends as well. I’m the middle child – I’m going to change my Twitter handle to Middle Malan – and Pieter, who is at the Cobras, has got a deal with the Cape Town Knight Riders and Janneman is only 21 and to see how he has grown into the player he is, is just unbelievable.
“He was picked quite early, in the ninth round, and we were obviously all very excited about that. I phoned Pieter in Cape Town and he was still in shock, but then the next second my sister-in-law is shouting and screaming over the phone because I was the very next pick!” Malan explained.
