Lasith Malinga is a right-arm fast bowler who bowls with a round arm action which is identical to slinging the ball. This unique action has given him the nickname of “Slinga Malinga”. Malinga has said that his unique action was a result of learning to play cricket completely with a tennis ball.
He debuted on July 17, 2004 against the United Arab Emirates at Dambulla. Since then he documented himself as a major player of Sri Lanka’s pace arsenal, as he is a regular inclusion in the Sri Lankan side.
The fast bowler is renowned for upsetting batsman with his blazing speed, bouncers and straight deadly yorkers. No batsman has ever been skilled enough to completely shatter Malinga in the One Day International format. He frequently bowls with the speed of approximately 150km. Malinga is rated as the prime fast bowler of his team. Moreover, his slinging action assembles the platform for him to disturb the batsmen in trying to interpret the ball's trajectory. Malinga is effective with both the old and new ball, which makes him a handy asset for Sri Lanka.
He was born on 28 August, 1983, in Galle, Sri Lanka. Malinga played for BCCSL Academy XI, Galle Cricket Club, Kent, Mumbai Indians, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Ruhuna and is also a permanent member of the Sri Lankan national cricket team.
Malinga has appeared in 82 ODI matches for Sri Lanka and has picked up 122 wickets for his team with an economy rate of 4.95.
In 2004-2005 when the Sri Lankan team visited New Zealand, the Kiwi team was unable to understand Malinga’s bowling action. It was very interesting to see New Zealand’s skipper Stephen Fleming asked the umpire to wear a belt and tie of a lighter color so that they would be able to see the ball.
In the 2007 World Cup, he performed extraordinarily, as he picked 18 wickets at 15.77 from eight matches and helped Sri Lanka to reach in the final. Malinga is the first ever bowler in international cricket to take 4 wickets in four successive balls which he did against South Africa in 2007 World Cup.
Sri Lanka had the credit of winning their first ever series against Australia by 2-1 in 2010. The first ODI of this series will always be remembered because of Malinga who was involved with Angelo Mathews for their unbelieving record partnership of 132 runs for the ninth wicket. The pace bowler made 56 runs for 48 balls and smashed six fours and two sixes in his inning. It was a valiant batting recital, as Sri Lanka won the first ODI by 1 wicket on 3 November, 2010 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia.
Malinga is also famous for keeping an uncommon hair style. He was not used to having unique hair styles when he started his career, but his style became popular in the 2007 World Cup. Many fans started copying his hair style. Malinga affirmed that his hair style is part of strategy to make batsmen feel uncomfortable. His hair style, eyebrow piercing, tattoos and unusual bowling action makes him one of the most unique cricketers.
The aggressive bowler is supervising Sri Lanka’s pace battery in the ICC World Cup 2011, as he has participated in 5 matches and took 8 wickets. Malinga has a stunning hat-trick against Kenya in their group match.
Malinga will be the genuine danger for the Kiwis in the semi-final game. He can spoil New Zealand’s batting comprehensively. The Sri Lankan team is hoping for a thriving burst from their pacer, as he is copiously skilled to jolt any opponent.
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