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”. 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. A thought out move by the Sri Lankan selectors to include Malinga in the 2004 Australia tour 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 nine 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 World Cup.
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. However, injuries have often kept him out of the playing eleven. A knee injury ended his Test career at a relatively young age, but Malinga insisted on continuing with the shorter formats of the game.
Malinga has been an asset to his IPL franchise, the Mumbai who owe a large chunk of their success to the Lankan speedster. His best performance for Mumbai came in the 2011 edition, when he finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 28 wickets, thus grabbing the coveted “Purple Cap”.
Fast Facts
- Lasith Malinga 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.
- 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.
Statistics
Show:
| |
Matches |
Innings |
Runs |
NO |
Avg. |
SR |
100's |
50's |
HS |
| Test |
30 |
37 |
275 |
13 |
11.45 |
44.42 |
0 |
1 |
64 |
| ODI |
139 |
66 |
379 |
21 |
8.42 |
78.95 |
0 |
1 |
56 |
| T20 |
43 |
15 |
69 |
7 |
8.62 |
86.25 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
| IPL |
71 |
20 |
73 |
6 |
5.21 |
91.25 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
| CLT20 |
14 |
6 |
69 |
3 |
23 |
168.29 |
0 |
0 |
37* |
| |
Matches |
Innings |
Balls |
Runs |
Wickets |
BBI |
BBM |
Avg. |
Econ. |
4w |
5w |
10w |
Extras |
| Test |
30 |
59 |
5209 |
3349 |
101 |
5/50 |
/ |
33.15 |
3.85 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
260 |
| ODI |
139 |
133 |
6757 |
5701 |
217 |
6/38 |
/ |
26.27 |
5.06 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
313 |
| T20 |
43 |
43 |
888 |
1097 |
49 |
5/31 |
/ |
22.38 |
7.41 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
52 |
| IPL |
71 |
71 |
1646 |
1784 |
100 |
5/13 |
/ |
17.84 |
6.50 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
87 |
| CLT20 |
14 |
12 |
287 |
321 |
24 |
5/32 |
/ |
13.37 |
6.71 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
| |
Catches |
Stumpings |
Runouts |
| Test |
7 |
0 |
4 |
| ODI |
17 |
0 |
8 |
| T20 |
13 |
0 |
4 |
| IPL |
17 |
0 |
5 |
| CLT20 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Career
Span:
- Test:
- 2004-2010
- ODI:
- 2004-2013
- T20:
- 2006-2013
- IPL:
- 2009-2013
- CLT20:
- 2010-2012
- Test
-
- Debut:
- Sri Lanka Vs Australia at Marrara Oval, Darwin - Jul 01, 2004
- Last played:
- Sri Lanka Vs India at P Sara Oval, Colombo - Aug 03, 2010
- ODI
-
- Debut:
- Sri Lanka Vs United Arab Emirates at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Rangiri - Jul 17, 2004
- Last played:
- Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy - Mar 28, 2013
- T20
-
- Debut:
- Sri Lanka Vs England at The Rose Bowl, Southampton - Jun 15, 2006
- Last played:
- Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy - Mar 31, 2013
- IPL
-
- Debut:
- Mumbai Vs Chennai at Newlands, Cape Town - Apr 18, 2009
- Last played:
- Mumbai Vs Chennai at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi - May 21, 2013
- CLT20
-
- Debut:
- Mumbai Vs Highveld Lions at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg - Sep 10, 2010
- Last played:
- Mumbai Vs Sydney Sixers at Kingsmead, Durban - Oct 22, 2012
