Malinga to be Sri Lanka’s bowling strategy coach against Australia

Legendary pacer Lasith Malinga has been appointed as the bowling strategy coach for the white-ball leg of Sri Lanka’s home series against Australia, starting next week.

A white ball legend in his own right and one of the greatest T20 bowlers, the 38-year-old had held the same role with the national team when the team toured Australia in February this year for a white ball series.

“Malinga, during the tour, will support Sri Lanka’s bowlers, providing tactical insight and technical expertise to help the on-field execution of strategic plans,” a Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) press release said.

Good influence on bowlers

While Sri Lanka had lost the series 4-1, the bowlers managed to limit the scoring with the Australian batters restricted to a high total of 164/6 across the five games.

“Sri Lanka Cricket is confident that Malinga’s vast experience and renowned death-bowling expertise, especially in the T20 format, will help the team immensely going into this all-important series,” the release added.

Malinga retired from all forms of the game in 2021. He served as the fast bowling coach for the Rajasthan Royals in the recently-concluded Indian Premeir League. The former champions finished runners-up.

Sri Lanka play three T20Is, followed by five ODIs in Colombo and Pallekele. Post the limited overs series, the two sides will play two a couple of Tests against in Galle. The three-match T20 series is set to begin here on June 7.