Amidst all the chaos for the Indian Premier League 2019, ace Sri Lankan bowler Lasith Malinga has announced the date his retirement from the international cricket. The T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia will be the last time when the cricket fraternity will witness Malinga wearing the national jersey for the last time. Currently, he is captaining Sri Lanka in a three-match T20 International series against South Africa.
The 35-year-old left the Test cricket a long time ago in 2010. He played 30 Test matches for Sri Lanka where he bagged 101 wickets at an average of 33. Malinga was the best white-ball bowler in the world when he was at his peak. In 218 ODIs so far that he has played, he snared 322 wickets, which includes three hat-tricks, two of whom came in the World Cups.
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“After the World Cup, my cricketing career is ending. I want to play in the T20 World Cup and then end my career,” he was quoted as saying by India TV after the second T20I against South Africa.
After winning the historical Test series in South Africa, Sri Lanka hasn’t won a single match on this tour. First, they received a five-nil clean sweep in the One-Day International series and then they lost the first two T20I games as well. Malinga bowled a magnificent spell during the first T20I and registered figures of 4-0-11-2. This effort of Sri Lankan skipper tied the match but South Africa sneaked past Lanka in the super over.
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Malinga is on the verge of a T20I record and can break it during the third game of this series. He has 97 wickets in 72 games can breach the 100 wicket mark and also become the leading wicket-taker in the format. Currently, former Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi holds the record for most number of wickets with 99 scalps.
