Bumrah on Malinga: Have always admired you

DN Bureau

As pacer Lasith Malinga bid adieu to ODI cricket, Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah thanked the Sri Lankan for his contribution to cricket, confessing that he has always admired him.

Lasith Malinga and  Jasprit Bumrah
Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah


New Delhi: As pacer Lasith Malinga bid adieu to ODI cricket, Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah thanked the Sri Lankan for his contribution to cricket, confessing that he has always admired him.

Bumrah and Malinga were teammates at Mumbai Indians, and the Men in Blue death over specialist has always been vocal towards the impact that the veteran has had on him.

"Classic Mali spell, Thank you for everything you've done for cricket. Always admired you and will always continue to do so," Bumrah tweeted.

Rohit Sharma, the captain of Mumbai Indians, labelled Malinga as the "biggest match-winner" for the franchise.

"If I had to pick one match-winner among many others for @mipaltan in the last decade, this man will be on the top for sure. As a captain, he gives me breather during a tense situation and he never failed to deliver, such was his presence within the team. Best wishes LM for the future," Sharma tweeted.

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Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar also congratulated Malinga on his ODI career.

"Congratulations on a wonderful One Day career, #Malinga. Wishing you all the very best for the future," Tendulkar tweeted.

"Sri Lanka's best right-arm fast bowler calls it a day in ODIs. #ThankYouMalinga for all the memories #OneFamily #CricketMeriJaan," Malinga's IPL franchise Mumbai Indians tweeted.

In his last ODI, Malinga registered figures of 3-38 in his 9.4 overs against Bangladesh on Friday.

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Malinga has featured in 329 international games for Sri Lanka and scalped 536 wickets. In his 15-year-long cricketing career, the bowler remained in the spotlight for his action and unique hairstyle, apart from his skills with the ball.

Malinga is still a mystery for many batsmen as he has the ability to bowl toe-breaking yorkers and also the slower deliveries with the same action and run-up.

The 35-year-old made his debut against Australia in Test cricket in 2004. In the same year, he played his maiden ODI against the UAE at Dambulla. Malinga's T20 debut came against England at Southampton.

Malinga was the team's highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. He took 13 wickets in the tournament from seven innings. He is the only bowler to have taken three ODI hat-tricks. He attained a career-high points tally of 675 after a memorable spell of three for 22 against Bangladesh in Colombo on July 2007.

His highest ranking was seventh in November 2011, achieved against Pakistan in Dubai.

The pacer had retired from Test cricket in 2011, but he had continued to play other formats since then. Sri Lanka won the first ODI against Bangladesh by 91 runs and will play in the second ODI on July 28 in the three-match ODI series. (ANI)










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