Lasith Malinga returns to the IPL as Rajasthan Royals bowling coach

Indian Premier League
Lasith Malinga Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka fast bowler and IPL legend Lasith Malinga will continue his love affair with the richest franchise tournament in the world as he takes up a role with Rajasthan Royals.

Malinga, who retired in 2021, is the highest wicket-taker in the IPL having bagged 170 scalps across nine seasons for Mumbai Indians.

Lasith Malinga returns to the IPL as coach

Lasith Malinga also already has a legacy as a mentor to young fast bowlers and has proven an excellent teacher.

Malinga is both laid-back and straightforward in the way he goes about his business, and draws alongside young quicks really well.

This has all the makings of a great piece of recruitment from the Royals.

Malinga will work alongside his former captain Kumar Sangakkara, who is the franchise’s head coach and director of cricket, and Steffan Jones, who was named as high-performance fast-bowling coach last week.

“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,” Malinga said.

“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.”

India to benefit from Lasith Malinga’s expertise

India also stand to derive massive benefit from the recruitment of Malinga with two of their most promising young fast bowlers in the Royals squad.

Prasidh Krishna and Navdeep Saini have made names for themselves in the IPL but the mentorship of Malinga might just send the two men into the stratosphere.

In terms of internationals, the Royals have an attack leader in Trent Boult and an Australian veteran in Nathan Coulter-Nile.

They also sport quality allrounders from overseas in West Indies’ Obed McCoy as well as Jimmy Neesham and Daryl Mitchell of the Black Caps.

Rajasthan Royals Squad for IPL 2022

Sanju Samson (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell.

Lasith Malinga Navdeep Saini Obed McCoy

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