Lasith Malinga

Profile

Not since the retirement of Jeff Thomson has cricket seen a better slinging bowler than Lasith Malinga. The Galle-born speedster is one of the very few world-class pacers Sri Lanka has produced over the years.

 

Malinga grew up playing on the sandy beaches of Galle with a soft ball where he developed his unique round-arm action to deliver his now famous toe-crushing Yorkers that has led to his nickname, “Slinga”. Former Sri Lankan pacer Ramanayake identified his unique ability and invited him to join the Sri Lankan Cricket Foundation. He later made his debut for Galle in 2001-02 and developed a fearsome reputation in domestic cricket for hurling deliveries at breakneck pace and was also difficult to pick because of his unusual action. After taking 6 wickets for 90 against Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI, he was selected for Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia in 2004. It was a clearly thought out move as Malinga was the type of bowler Australian batsmen would not have faced even in domestic cricket. The move paid off as he single-handedly rattled the Australian batsman picking 10 wickets in the two Tests. Later in Napier, he ripped through New Zealand’s batting order bagging 9 wickets in the game. He made his ODI debut against UAE in 2004 and was one of Sri Lanka’s standout bowlers in the 2007 WC. Following the retirement of Chaminda Vaas, Malinga has developed as the leader of the pace bowling pack.

 

A wonderful exponent of the yorker, Malinga’s awkward action helps him generate disconcerting bounce and he also has a very well-disguised slower delivery up his arsenal. He however had his share of injuries and has been out of the side on several occasions. He has been an asset to his IPL franchise, the Mumbai Indians who owe a large chunk of their success to the Lankan speedster. Malinga’s best performance for Mumbai came in the 2011 edition, when he finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 28 wickets. Later that year, he announced his retirement from Test cricket in order to prolong his Twenty20 and ODI career.

Fast Facts

• Lasith Malinga is Sri Lanka's fastest bowler to claim 100 wickets in ODI's and currently their third highest wicket taker.
• He became the first-ever player to take four wickets in four consecutive balls in international cricket, a feat he achieved against South Africa in the 2007 WC.
• At 155.6 km/h, Malinga bowled the fastest delivery by a Sri Lankan bowler in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.
• He also became the first bowler in cricket history to have two World Cup hat-tricks to his name.
• Malinga became the first bowler to notch three ODI hat-tricks in his career.

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Career

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