On Tuesday, 14 September, Lasith Malinga has announced retirement from T20 cricket, thus bringing curtains on his cricketing career. ‘While my shoes will rest my love for the game will never rest,’ he captioned the video on Youtube.
Malinga led Sri Lanka to the ICC T20 Championship in 2014. They had won the World Cup in 1996 but never the T20 World Cup. Malinga replaced Dinesh Chandimal, who relinquished the captaincy, midway through the tournament. They defeated India in the final.
Malinga became the first to take 100 wickets in T20Is, and his 107 wickets (economy 7.42) are still the most in the format. He also has 338 ODI wickets (at 29, economy 5.35), while his 101 Test wickets came at 33.15.
His 170 wickets, entirely for Mumbai Indians, are the most in IPL history. Over years, he has been a stalwart for Mumbai, not only as cricketer but also as a mentor of many young fast bowlers, especially Jasprit Bumrah.
Malinga has publicly acknowledged the role Champaka Ramanayake played in his career when he was rising through the youth ranks. The predatory yorkers that have crushed too many hopes were honed under the supervision of Ramanayake. He dropped himself to make way for Malinga in one of the local games.
Malinga made his ODI debut against UAE in 2004. Although he cemented his spot soon after the inclusion, the breakthrough moment in his career came three years later, in the ODI World Cup, where he became the first to take four wickets in four balls in international cricket. Twelve years later, he repeated the feat again, and this time New Zealand was on the receiving end.