Lasith Malinga named fast-bowling coach by Rajasthan Royals for 2022 IPL

Having retired from the game in 2021, Malinga is one of the Indian Premier League's highest wicket-takers. The fast bowler has dispatched batters no less than 170 times in a glorious nine-year career for the Mumbai Indians. In his international career spanning 17 years, ‘Slinga Malinga’ has taken 546 wickets in 340 international matches across all three formats and led Sri Lanka to win the 2014 ICC Twenty20 World Cup. He holds the record for the highest number of hat-tricks in limited-overs cricket with three ODI and two T20I cricket hat-tricks.

Malinga is not new to coaching and has been a bowling mentor in 2018 in Mumbai and this year took the post of fast bowling strategy coach for Sri Lanka in their T20I tour to Australia.

Malinga will be responsible of overseeing the development of the bowling strategies for the Rajasthan Royals throughout the season. He will also be responsible for accelerating the training and development of fresh bowling talent in the team. Lasith Malinga was often named the King of Yorker due to his ability to consistently bowl Yorkers during his playing days. He will be a great addition to the Rajasthan Royals franchise, which has a potential great bowler like Trent Boult in the team.

There will be a familiar face awaiting Malinga in Rajasthan as his former national captain, Kumar Sangakkara, is the head coach of the Royals. Malinga will also work alongside Steffan Jones who holds the position of high-performance fast bowling coach.

Malinga said, "It's a wonderful feeling for me to return to the IPL and an absolute honour to join Rajasthan Royals, 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 IPL with Mumbai Indians and now with Royals, looking forward to new experiences and creating great memories in this journey."

Sangakkara added, "Lasith is arguably one of the greatest T20 fast bowlers of all time, and to have a personality like his around the training ground, and the expertise he brings to the table, is certainly something we feel the team can benefit from. We have some of the best fast bowlers in our squad and we are delighted that they will have the chance to work with Lasith and get to learn and develop further.”