Lasith Malinga’s dwindling fortunes is reminiscent of Sri Lankan cricket’s sorry state of affairs in international cricket right now. Sri Lanka is going through one of its toughest phases in world cricket right now and Malinga’s condition is not very much different than his team.
Once Sri Lanka’s go-to man in all situations, Malinga has not quite lived up to the expectations since returning after a 19-month ODI layoff. The veteran pacer has managed to pick up just 8 wickets in 11 games at an average of 63.25. At 33, Malinga is not going to get any fitter and fiery like he used to be a few years ago and not surprisingly he has faced the criticism for his indifferent show. However, Sri Lanka’s stand-in skipper, while admitting that he has not been able to pick up the wickets, said that he is not affected by all the negative reactions.
“As a bowler, I’ve not been able to get wickets in the last couple of series,” Malinga said. “A lot of people have talked about that. In fact, there has been more talk in the last couple of months than in 14 previous years that I’ve played, but I’m used to that. But whenever someone is coming towards the end of their careers, there is a failure. People talk about them not being fit enough, or not picking him.”
Malinga further said that he is feeling better now. “I was out for 19 months, but now I feel I am getting better. Everyone knows how major my leg injuries are. Now that my leg is getting better, I’m doing all the treatment and all the rehabilitation. The fitness also is improving, and now I feel really comfortable to bowl 10 overs – I bowl consistently,” he said.
Malinga has been seen chatting with Zaheer Khan, who is commentating in the ongoing series. When asked about his chat with the former India pacer, Malinga said:
“Zak [Zaheer] is more of a seam and swing bowler, and I want to learn more of that kind of thing over the next few years. That’s what I talked with him. Every time I have an opportunity, we speak about my bowling action, and how I have to improve. Because guys like him are in the commentary box, they look at every single one of my body movements and my bowling action, and how I swing the ball, and they have a good idea of how I’m going now.”