Lasith Malinga

Malinga or Separamadu Lasith Malinga was born on August 28, 1983 in Galleans and is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He bowls at a very fast pace with a slinging action and releases the cricket ball very low. This distinctive action has earned him the nickname called “Slinga Malinga”. In his test debut, he took 6 wickets against world champions Australia in 2004. He has constantly troubled most of the batsman with his lively pace and well directed bouncers during his maiden tour of Australia. His unique bowling action left many batsmen struggle to adapt to.

Lasith Malinga selection for Sri Lanka’s tour to Australia in 2004 was a surprised selection, though he had a very fearsome reputation on the domestic circuit. Malinga bowling with distinctive and explosive round-arm action, generates genuine pace which can disconcert batsmen who struggle to pick up the ball’s upcoming trajectory. He is rated as the fastest bowler in Sri Lanka team. His first performance in Sri Lankan colours was impressive where he took 6 for 90 against Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI. This match paved the way for his inclusion in the Test team. He acquitted himself quite well when he dismissing Darren Lehmann and Adam Gilchrist in the one over. During the tour to New Zealand in April 2005, his low-slung action resulted in the New Zealand batsmen to ask the umpires to change the colour of their trouser as the ball was getting lost. He is slowly developing into Sri Lanka’s key pace-bowling wicket-taker, especially when Chaminda Vaas is loosing his bowling pace. Although at times he is quite erratic and has a tendency to bowl no-balls, he is a genuine strike bowler, with both new ball and old. He can class to outpace and trouble the best batsmen on his day. His slowly development as key all-round bowler was confirmed when he was the leading wicket-taker in the one-day series against England. He continued to impress everybody in the Champions Trophy and on tour in New Zealand. His Yorkers balls made many batsmen turn around and the World Cup 2007 is the type of stage where his confident character could thrive. Along with the bouncer, he has a variety of balls which include the yorker, swinger which is very hard to play considering the fact that he regularly bowls between 140 KM and 150 KM.