Lasith Malinga - The greatest bowler by far in limited-overs cricket

Lasith Malinga announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, bringing an end to a 17-year career of brilliance, punctuated with excellent performances in limited-overs cricket and Tests.

Lasith Malinga is one of the best bowlers in limited overs cricket with four hat-tricks. (Image credit: Twitter)
By Siddharth vishwanathan | Sep 15, 2021 | 5 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

For 17 years, cricket witnessed a unique and pulsating sight. Kissing the ball before the run-up, he loaded up and sprinted to the popping crease. Cricket, in that era, was punctuated by bowlers with a high-arm action and a very orthodox bowling action. This bowler redefined the parameters of unorthodoxy. Instead of a high-arm action, he had a slingshot, low arm action. This earned him the nickname ‘Slinga’. That low arm action became an instant hit for any bowler in the world to replicate.

The strength in the slingshot action was honed by hours of swimming in the river beside his village in Rathgama. His coach spotted the talent while he was playing cricket near the beach. He had a unique way of developing his skills. Realising his low slingshot action can nail effective yorkers, his coach nailed shoes near the popping crease, asking the youngster to hit the shoes with accuracy. Thus, the legend of Lasith Malinga was born. Over the next decade and a half, Malinga dominated the cricket world in a way few had ever done.

The brilliance of Lasith Malinga

That low-armed slingshot action was a recipe for dominance right from the beginning. But, the cricket world had to make some adjustments. His low-arm action forced one of the umpires to change his trousers as batsmen were struggling to pick him up. What made Malinga potent? The yorker ability was always there. However, with that same action and without any noticeable change, he bowled the yorker and slower ball brilliantly.

Malinga’s skills redefined the way how death bowling would be approached. In the era before Malinga, batsmen would go for big hits and dent the economies of the bowlers. But, with the arrival of Malinga, the death overs became the ultimate template as to how to bowl. Yorkers, slower balls, wide outside off, slow and pacy bouncers. The five basic principles of death bowling all came to light due to Malinga.

Malinga and the hat-trick ability

If one has to know the potency of Malinga, it is his ability to produce hat-tricks out of nowhere. During the 2007 World Cup match against South Africa in Guyana, the Proteas had already closed in on a game. However, in a sensational display of bowling, Lasith Malinga took four wickets in four consecutive deliveries to put Sri Lanka on the cusp of a win. Despite the Proteas getting over the line in a tense match, Malinga had truly arrived on the world stage.

The performance by Malinga earned him a contract for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. The tournament, Sri Lanka, and world cricket would see bowling in the shortest formats change forever. Malinga would form an integral core to Sri Lanka’s magnificent run in ICC events from 2007 to 2014. The fact that Sri Lanka stumbled in the final and semi-finals of World T20s, World Cups, and ICC Champions Trophies is a different matter altogether.

In the major events, Malinga stepped up when it mattered. He took a hat-trick in the 2011 World Cup against Kenya. During the 2011 World Cup final, he got the wickets of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to give Sri Lanka a chance. After the World Cup, he got another hat-trick against Australia in an ODI which showed that he was the ultimate bowler. Things became even better in a Twenty20 International against New Zealand in Pallekele. He took four wickets in four balls for the second time, thus establishing himself as one of the greatest bowlers of all time.

A legend in ODIs and T20Is

When one looks at the statistics of the IPL, Lasith Malinga has remained the highest wicket-taker for the league. His spells in the death overs are legendary. It is a tribute that whenever Malinga has performed brilliantly, Mumbai Indians have won the IPL four out of the five times.

However, the most understated fact is the contribution during the 2014 ICC World T20. Sri Lanka had begun the tournament badly and was on the cusp of elimination. In the middle of the tournament, Dinesh Chandimal was replaced as the skipper by Malinga. When he assumed the captaincy, Sri Lanka’s fortunes changed.

During the final, it was his wide yorkers to Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh that kept the Indian juggernaut quiet. It was his spell that restricted India to a low score. After five consecutive heartbreaks, Sri Lanka had won the ICC World T20 in 2014 thanks to the leadership of Malinga.

A strained Test career and later injuries

If one looks at the bowlers who have taken 100 wickets in all three formats, Lasith Malinga was the first. His chronic knee injury restricted him to just 30 Tests. But, he did make an impact in Muttiah Muralitharan’s final Test when he took 5/50. But, his knee and ankle injuries continued to torment him in his later years. At the age of 27, he announced his retirement from Tests in order to concentrate on T20Is and ODIs.

In 2012, he was on the receiving end of a brutal assault from Virat Kohli in Hobart. That annihilation probably dulled Malinga’s skills. But, in 2015 and the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cups, he gave Sri Lanka happiness with some superb performances.

If one has to look at the career of Malinga, he took a wicket with his final balls in both ODIs and Twenty20s. When he bowled that slower ball to Shardul Thakur in the IPL 2019 final between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, he got a wicket which gave them a one-run win.

The legend of Lasith Malinga will never fade

For the way how he changed the entire scope of death-overs bowling, Lasith Malinga’s legend will never fade. The way how he has honed Jasprit Bumrah is a tribute to the influence that he has. A whole generation of modern bowlers will be aiming to emulate Malinga and the way how he nailed yorkers at will. In over a decade, he bowled 2000 yorkers, which is a testament to his mind-blowing consistency.

The genius of Sri Lankan unorthodoxy is the key factor why Malinga and Muralitharan came out and excelled. With the departure of Lasith Malinga, it is an end to that golden generation of Sri Lankan stars who gave the fans something to cheer for.





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