Lasith Malinga has been appointed as a specialist bowling coach of the Sri Lanka cricket team for their upcoming tour of Australia. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed Malinga’s short-term appointment as a specialist coach on Wednesday, January 26.

Malinga is one of Sri Lanka’s greatest fast bowlers and has already worked as a mentor for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018). The 38-year-old also led Sri Lanka to a T20 World Cup title in 2014. He is one of the four bowlers with more than 100 T20I wickets.

He was appointed by the Executive Committee of SLC in consultation with the Technical Advisory Committee of the board. The appointment will be effective from February 1 to February 20, 2022.

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The SLC said in a release on Wednesday: “Malinga, in his new short-term role as a specialist coach, will support Sri Lanka's bowlers, providing tactical insight and technical expertise to help the on-field execution of strategic plans.”

He added, “SLC is confident that Malinga's vast experience and renowned death-bowling expertise, especially in the T20 format, will help the team immensely going into this series.”

Meanwhile, Malinga is excited to share his experience and knowledge with the Sri Lankan players during the upcoming Australia tour, where they are scheduled to play five T20Is from 11 February.

Malinga said of his appointment, “We have some very talented young bowlers and I am very excited about the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge to help them develop.”

Notably, Rumesh Ratnayake has been also named Sri Lanka’s interim coach for the Australia tour.

(With PTI Inputs)