Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga turns off-spinner

Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga is known for action, speed and accuracy with his unorthodox bowling style and as one of the most effective bowler in limited-overs cricket.

Malinga was not selected for the recently concluded tour of Pakistan due to his struggle with form. Sri Lanka was white-washed in the five-match one day international and three match Twenty20 series in the United Arab Emirates and one match in Lahore.

However, Malinga utilised the time to show his off-spin ability during a domestic match. He captained the Teejay Lanka team which won against LB Finance in the final of the MCA Premier Knockout division tournament.

Under the captaincy of the Sri Lankan pacer, Teejay Lanka team registered a victory over LB Finance who scored 125/7 in 25 overs and lost the match by 82 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method.

Malinga’s bowling was the talking point he bowled off-spin instead of his regular right-arm pace bowling. He hardly moved from the bowling crease for the run-up but still managed to pick up three wickets.

The Sri Lanka Cricket has stated that Malinga was not considered for the Pakistan tour due to his ongoing struggles with the ball. After returning to international cricket in June this year, Malinga has played only 13 ODIs and his most recent international match was the T20I against India played on September 6 in which he was completely ineffective.