Cricket / Lasith Malinga retires from all forms of cricket aged 38

Cricket Desk: Sri Lanka’s legendary pacer Lasith Malinga has announced his retirement from all forms of the game. He had already hung his boots from the ODI and Test formats and on September 14 (Tuesday), he called it quits from the T20Is as well. Malinga last played for Sri Lanka in March 2020 before COVID-19 pandemic impacted cricket and since then, was on the sidelines.

He was also not considered for the upcoming T20 World Cup to be played in the UAE. The 38-year-old played 84 T20Is for his country picking 107 wickets including two five-wicket hauls and a four-wicket haul. Speaking about his overall career, he played 30 Tests and 226 ODIs as well while featuring in a whopping 295 T20 matches.

The shortest format was his forte where he used to deliver yorkers at will in the four-over spells and ended his career with a whopping 390 wickets (in all T20s). As far as IPL is concerned, Lasith Malinga played only for Mumbai Indians winning multiple title for them. His last ball in the cash-rich league remains the title winning one for the franchise where he dismissed Shardul Thakur of CSK to win MI its fourth IPL title in the 2019 season.

Thankful to all those who supported me, says Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga, on Tuesday, took to his official Twitter handle to announce his retirement. He also posted an emotional video highlighting the top moments of his career on his official Youtube channel. “Hanging up my #T20 shoes and #retiring from all forms of cricket! Thankful to all those who supported me in my journey, and looking forward to sharing my experience with young cricketers in the years to come,” he wrote in his tweet.

Lasith Malinga thanked all the teams for whom he played throughout his illustrious T20 career while stating he is giving full rest to his bowling shoes in the shortest format. “Today is very special day for me because I want to thank each and everyone who supported me throughout my T20 career. Today I have decided that I want to give 100% rest to my T20 bowling shoes.

“I want to thank Sri Lankan cricket board and my team members, Mumbai Indians cricket team and team members, especially team owners and officials, Melbourne Stars, Kent Cricket Club, Rangpur Riders, Guyana Warriors, Maratha Arabians and Montreal Tigers,” Malinga said in his farewell video.