Sri Lanka fast bowling legend Lasith Malinga guided and mentored IPL teammate Jasprit Bumrah during his early days with franchise Mumbai Indians before the India pace spearhead became the bowler he is today.
Bumrah made his international debut in January 2016 and is touted as world's best speedster today, especially in white-ball cricket. And that wouldn't have transpired with some invaluable help along the way from Malinga.
"When I met ‘Boom’ for the first time in 2013, he was a young kid. He had pace, but the only thing lacking was accuracy. But he was always willing to learn and was extremely committed to the game. He soon realised that in T20s, only skilful players can survive," Malinga told Sportstar.
"He learned everything quickly — be it the slower ball, in-swinger or out-swinger. He has that confidence and that’s why he is No. 1 now. I don’t think he has any pressure. That’s why he can deliver six yorkers and one slow ball at ease. I hope in the next one year he improves on how to analyse a game. Then, nobody can beat him. Trust me on that."
Malinga just finished what was his last fifty-over World Cup for Sri Lanka. The 35-year-old scalped 13 wickets in seven innings, including a game-changing four-fer in that amazing heist over England.
"I am happy to play for the national team, especially since this is my last World Cup. I really enjoyed it. There is a good (camaraderie) between the senior and young players. I don’t take any pressure; try to stay relaxed and play my natural game."
"I don’t talk about pressure. As a bowler, you need to realise the situation and know what you have to do. I always trust my skill and back it up with my confidence. So, there’s no pressure," he said.
"I don’t think about the situation or who is batting or whatever… I just give my best and I want to enhance my skills. With such an approach, you get results on most of the days, but sometimes you don’t succeed. That’s part of cricket."
Of course, the talk when it comes to Malinga invariably revolves around his excellence at death bowling skills, especially those legendary yorkers.
"The art of bowling yorkers is to train hard. Whoever wants to bowl consistent yorkers and develop confidence needs to undergo rigorous and longer training sessions. To learn to bowl yorkers, you have to keep trying at the nets."
"Most of the time the bowlers tend to mix a yorker with a slower delivery. If one needs to be accurate, then consistency is a must. You have to keep bowling until you master it. That’s a challenge, but trust me, that’s the only way to go about it."
"If one has to learn the basics of yorkers, he has to put in extra hours after the training session — when the body is tired. Only then he can prepare mentally and physically. That helps him better," he concluded.
The great Malinga has taken 335 wickets in 225 ODIs at an average of 29.0 and economy rate of 5.36 thus far. He is among the greatest limited overs cricketers to have enriched the game with their presence.
