While there are more pressing problems facing South African cricket, one of the great puzzles in the local game is why Janneman Malan isn't playing all three formats for the Proteas.
Malan has been tearing it up in the ODI team but has found opportunities hard to come by in the T20I side despite making his first international appearance in the shortest format back in 2019.
While Malan generally gets a move on while at the crease there is nothing about his batting that suggests he is somehow unsuited to playing red-ball cricket.
However, Malan has yet to receive a Test cap, and one hopes it won’t take him as long to earn a place as it did his older brother Pieter.
Those in the know suggest that Janneman is the most outrageously talented cricketer in a family brimming with potential.
The revamped domestic system is likely to present Malan with a few more chances to push his Test claims and he has made a good start to life with Boland, already notching his first double-hundred for the provincial team.
He has more than 3000 First Class runs to his name already at an average that is pushing 50, but there has been no great urgency to give him a chance in a Proteas batting lineup that hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory in recent Test cricket.
There is a suggestion that Malan’s desire to feel leather on willow might be something that concerns coaches when it comes to playing Test cricket, but the only way to know if he will hack it in the arena is to give him a chance.
With India set to visit this summer, South Africa will need to have someone in their top four who can really take the attack to the tourists in a series that is sure to be hard-fought.
Debuting against perhaps the best side in the world is a tall order, but Test cricket is a sink or swim business.
It’s time to throw Malan in and see if he can stay afloat.
