The unorthodox fast bowler from Sri Lanka, Lasith Malinga, has decided to bid farewell to ODI cricket after the first ODI of the Bangladesh series.
https://twitter.com/Lasith99Malinga/status/1153573479784079360
Finding a wicket-taking bowler like Malinga is already Sri Lanka’s ‘biggest problem’ going forward, said captain Dimuth Karunaratne on his retirement.
The 35-year-old Slinga Malinga has more than 500 international wickets to his name. He has been Sri Lanka’s top bowler in the limited-overs formats and he has taken three ODI hattricks, the most by any bowler in the history of cricket. Two out of these have been in World Cups.
He also has the third-highest number of wickets (56) in World Cups, falling behind Glenn McGrath and Muttiah Muralitharan who have 71 and 68 scalps respectively.
▶️ 225 ODIs
▶️ 335 wickets
▶️ 8 five-wicket haulsMore than 10800 deliveries 👏
Lasith Malinga is set to draw the curtain on his illustrious 50-over career. Details 👇https://t.co/0xSMENd4GI
— ICC (@ICC) July 23, 2019
He led Sri Lanka to T20 World Cup triumph in 2014 and he also appeared in 4 other World Cup finals including the 2007 and 2011 ODI World Cups and 2009 and 2012 T20 World Cups. His 97 wickets in T20Is are only second to Shahid Afridi, who has 98.
The cricket fans will surely miss his deadly yorkers and remarkably deceptive slower ones. Having made his debut in 2004, Malinga has given cricket lovers plenty of moments to cherish and it will be the end of an era that lasted over 15 years.
that’s sad, he truly is a legend