World Cup 2019: Lasith Malinga's heartwarming gesture to Marcus Stoinis
What’s the story?
Lasith Malinga was seen involved in a long chat with the Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis at the conclusion of the warm-up match between Australia and Sri Lanka and the former Sri Lankan captain later revealed that he was actually sharing some inputs with Stoinis regarding the death bowling in white ball cricket.
In case you didn’t know...
Malinga has been one of the greatest death bowlers of the modern era as he has absolutely bamboozled batsmen from across the globe with his Yorkers and a variety of slower deliveries. He might be in the twilight of his career now, but he is still very effective as he recently showed in the IPL 2019 final where he defended just 9 runs in the last over of the game and helped Mumbai lift the IPL trophy.
The heart of the matter
Malinga, these days, has actually lost a bit of pace and hence rather than the fast Yorkers that he once used to bowl, he now relies more on his variations which are his off cutters and slower ball bouncers and that’s what he was apparently teaching Stoinis during that chat as he himself told the reporters.
“I wanted to give him tips – that’s how cricket moves forward. Whoever wants to know, I will help them. I’ll share tricks on how to bowl slow balls, which situation you will use it, why you want to use the slow one.” Malinga was quoted saying by the press.
Malinga is someone who has actually groomed India’s fast bowling sensation Jasprit Bumrah as well. By Bumrah’s own admission, he has perfected the art of death bowling by watching Malinga practice during their time together at the Mumbai Indians and learning from that.
What’s next?
Both Malinga and Bumrah will be in action during the upcoming World Cup and will be the main men of the bowling units of their respective teams.
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