Lasith Malinga is a Sri Lankan Cricketer, who is a
right arm fast medium bowler. He bowls with a distinctive and explosive round
arm action which is similar to “slinging” the ball and which has earned him the
nickname “Slinga Malinga”.
Born August 28th 1983, in Galle, Sri Lanka, he grew up in Rathgama,
where he always enjoyed cricket of some form. When he moved to Mahina College,
Galle, he was discovered by Sri Lankan paceman Champaka Ramanayake and invited
to join the Cricket Foundation of Sri Lanka.
Here they tried to change Malinga’s bowling action
to more upright, but that just led him to reduce his pace and bowl with less
accuracy. He was soon allowed to continue with his more natural
action.
He is rated as Sri Lankans fastest bowler, often
bowling at speeds between 140 and 150 km/h and he is a regular in both the Test
and ODI teams.
He made his test debut in 2004, against Australia
at Darwin’s Marrara Oval, where his figures were an impressive 6 for 90, making
sure his team place was secured.
His ODI debut came the same year, when Sri Lanka
played against the United Arab Emirates.
In a tour of New Zealand in 2005,
his low slung bowling action resulted in the New Zealand captain asking the
umpires to change the colour of their trousers as they were not able to see the
ball, a request that was denied.
During the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies,
Malinga took a total of 18 wickets to help Sri Lanka into the Final. He also
became the first ever bowler in international cricket to take 4 wickets in four
consecutive balls against South Africa.
He plays for the Mumbai Indians in
the India Premier League, and is their strike bowler in this format of cricket.
He is also the leading bowler for the 2010 season, along with his fellow Sri
Lankan Teammate Mulalitharan, who plays for the Chennai Super Kings.
Although not known as a batsman, Malinga scored an
exciting 64 against India in the summer series of 2010. Using his Woodworm i-Bat
Pro Series, Malinga forged a 115 run partnership with Rangana Herath, which
helped Sri Lanka to victory in the match, in a fearless, confident innings that
included hooks, drives, pulls, reaching the boundary along the ground 9 times,
and clearing it twice.
Portrait Image (C) Anuradha
Ratnaweera