Lasith Malinga joins Rajasthan as fast bowling coach

In what comes as big news, Rajasthan have appointed the legend Lasith Malinga as their new fast bowling coach. It is to be noted that the Rajasthan-based franchise has announced two additions to their coaching staff. While the first is Malinga joining the team in pink, the other is Paddy Upton, who has been appointed as the “Team Catalyst”.

However, the news of the 2008-champions roping in the services of the Sri Lankan legend took the cricket world by storm. “Slinga Malinga” is himself a veteran in the biggest T20 league in the world. As a matter of fact, he has taken the most number of wickets in the history of the toughest 20 league.

He was synonymous with the Mumbai-based franchise and was one of their best players. He picked 170 wickets in this league. As far as his credentials in the international arena are concerned, he is an absolute legend of the game, who once held the record for the most number of wickets picked by a bowler in T20Is. Under his leadership, Sri Lanka won the  20-20 World Cup 2014 as well.

“It’s a wonderful feeling for me to return to the ITL and an absolute honour to join Rajasthan, a franchise that has always promoted and developed young talent. I am excited by the pace bowling unit we have going into the tournament and looking forward to supporting all the fast bowlers with the execution of their game-plans and their overall development. I’ve made some very special memories in the ITL with Mumbai and now with Royals, looking forward to new experiences and creating great memories in this journey,” said Lasith Malinga on his appointment as Rajasthan’s fast bowling coach, as quoted by Sports Tiger.

Rajasthan took to Twitter to share the same. The official account of the franchise shared an image of Malinga, in the form of a creative graphic. It depicted him wearing a Rajasthan shirt. The fans were quick to react as well.

“*kisses the ball* Lasith Malinga. ITL. Pink,” read Rajasthan’s caption to their Tweet. As far as his coaching experience goes, the legend was Sri Lanka’s Bowling Strategy Coach during their T20I series against Australia. Besides, he was a part of Mumbai’s coaching staff in 2018 as well. Hence, it will be exciting to watch him with a new team this time around.

https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1502200151334522884?t=155Kq2gKBFiBINUVv0l7KQ&s=19