Exclusive: Janneman Malan Aims for a Solid Domestic Season with the North West Dragons.

Janneman Malan has not given up on playing for South Africa, and he is using his move to the North West Dragons to reset and refresh in an attempt to rediscover his best form.

A promising international career halted by a poor run of form.

Janemann Malan's short International career hit a speedbump, and it's taking a while to regain momentum.

After having been an integral part of the Proteas One Day International (ODI) set-up, he has missed out on selection since the 2-1 series loss against India in 2022.

The 28-year-old boasts an impressive ODI average of 47.90 in the 23 matches he has played for South Africa.

He has scored three centuries with a high score of 177 not out against Ireland in 2021. His five half tons also played a huge role in him being voted the ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year and being among the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year in 2022.

Despite his achievement in the 2021 season, Malan went through a lean patch the following year, and he was ultimately dropped from the national side.

Prior to the India series, he scored 235 runs in nine matches at an average of 26.11, and the 62 runs he scored against India in the three match ODI series took his run tally for the year to 297 with two half centuries.

Malan told SportsBoom that as he looks ahead to the upcoming season, his biggest goal is to enjoy playing cricket again, and he knows that positive things will come out if he plays the game out of enjoyment.

The dip in form that came at a price, but not all hope is lost.

“I can only answer from my perspective, if you look at what happened (being dropped), I think it was just a lot of things coming together, of course I was struggling with form a bit,” he told SportsBoom.com.

“There were a couple of series’ where I didn't knock the lights out, but I think everyone goes through dips, and it was just unfortunate that I was going through that.”

“At that time I couldn’t see a way out, and I also think there was a change of management at the Proteas, and I respect that they wanted to go in a different direction.”

“They had players that they believed should be in the squads, and I respect that, and obviously it was players that made runs.”

“But at the end of the day, it's a lot of stuff that came together, and I just had to score runs, and to be honest, I just think I didn’t score enough runs and it's that simple.”