'Happy birthday to the king of yorkers' - Cricketing fraternity reacts as Lasith Malinga turns 38

Lasith Malinga has picked 546 wickets for Sri Lanka across formats.

By Padmaja Srivatsan

View : 3.1K

2 Min Read

Lasith Malinga
info
Lasith Malinga. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Legendary pacer Lasith Malinga turned 38 on August 28, 2021. ‘Bowled him!’ These words come to the mind whenever we speak about the Sri Lankan pacer. He had that aura due to his unusual action and a knack of picking up wickets and had the rare ability to win games singlehandedly. Be it Test, ODI or in the T20 format, ‘Slinga Malinga’ was the go-to bowler for Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

The Golden boy of Sri Lankan cricket has turned a year older, and it is a good time to recollect his memorable achievements in the Lankan jersey. Burst onto the scene in 2004, Malinga came as a breath of fresh air into the team owing to the ability to ball quickly.

With T20I cricket not being played that much, it was the ODI format that the pacer had the most important as he finished with a total of 338 wickets in 226 matches. His four wickets in four balls against South Africa in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007.

But after quitting the Test cricket, Malinga concentrated on the shorter formats, and it is in the T20I format that he truly blossomed and looked as menacing as ever. He also became the first player in Men’s cricket to get 100 wickets in the shortest format. Malinga’s express pace coupled with pinpoint accuracy were nightmares for the opposition batters.

Also, he was used as a death-over specialist by the Lankan captains and, he more often not delivered by picking vital wickets. His most important came during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2014, where he led Sri Lanka to victory in the final against India.

The mainstay of Mumbai Indians

Malinga had the biggest impact in the Indian Premier League (IPL) while playing for Mumbai Indians. The franchise has won five titles, and they owe it to Malinga, who was exceptional for the team with his brilliant bowling. In the 2019 edition of IPL, the pacer denied Shardul Thakur a single off the final ball and enabled Mumbai Indians to win its’ third title. He is still the leading wicket-taker in the IPL picking 170 wickets in just 122 games for Mumbai Indians.

Here’s how Twitter wished Lasith Malinga on his 38th:

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store
Sri Lanka