Malinga's return to international cricket bungled by Sri Lanka

Submitted by Hilal on August 9, 2009 - 10:42

If you witnessed the 2009 Indian Premier League, you know how good Lasith Malinga was in that tournament. Malinga was a regular in the Mumbai line up. He was equally as impressive in the Twenty20 World Cup in England.

However, Malinga was not selected for the Test series against Pakistan. As Rameez Raja pointed out On-Air during the 5th ODI in Pakistan's 2009 ODI tour of Sri Lanka. Allowing a bowler to 'run cold', then turn up for the ODI series, and perform as he did before is unfair and the wrong approach.

"Imran Khan thought the best way to bring a bowler back into match fitness and form was to give him as many overs in the middle as possible," said Rameez. He went on to say that the policy of playing Malinga on and off has not worked for Sri Lanka, or Malinga.

Malinga played several games for Mumbai, and the excuse that he only bowled just four overs in a T20 match, doesn't hold up when you consider the fact that he fielded for 20 overs, over a 2 month long tournament.

Malinga is being mismanaged, and something needs to be done about it.

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Lasith Malinga

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Comments

Submitted by ranga (not verified) on August 9, 2009 - 12:01.

#1

true mate

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Submitted by SquareCut on August 9, 2009 - 12:32.

#2

Member since:
23 December 2008

Last activity:
23 weeks 2 days

Yea. Rameez Raja nicely pointed out that. He should be persisited without thinking about the injury. Hope he will come back strongly.

Btw What a talent Umar Akmal is. Wish we have a player like him in the middle order.

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Submitted by Sujan on August 9, 2009 - 14:18.

#3

Member since:
27 December 2008

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3 hours 39 min

Wish our captain cool will handle him properly, I've got no faith in SLC selectors/Administration

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Submitted by Ups_RF on August 10, 2009 - 06:02.

#4

Member since:
23 January 2009

Last activity:
13 weeks 3 days

Yes, I agree that Malinga is being mismanaged. I'd like to add that his pace has dipped considerably. He seems to be regularly bowling under 140ks these days with the odd one touching 140/141ks. I'm sure that he used to clock 143+ regularly at one stage. in NZ (or maybe it was against NZ at home) he hit the heady highs of the 150ks - when he bowled those lethal yorkers. I guess a pace dip is to be expected after coming back from an injury I suppose but it's now been a while since he's been back. Does anyone remember if his pace dropped before the injury? I heard some rumours that the Bayliss and his coaching team attempted to change his action and his pace dipped as a result. Can anyone shed any light on this? Some commentators reckon that his bowling arm is lower now. I agree.

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Submitted by Merlin on August 10, 2009 - 06:51.

#5

Member since:
7 December 2008

Last activity:
15 weeks 6 days

Listen to this:

In normal circumstances, the hosts’ coach Trevor Bayliss would have preferred that Malinga, 26, sit out of an inconsequential match anyway. But the Australian would have loved to see the unorthodox bowler take the field, considering his comeback from a long-term knee injury is far from complete.

Known for his sling-arm action, Malinga went for 79 runs in his 10 overs without taking a wicket in the fourth one-dayer on Friday. He came in for some harsh treatment from Pakistani teenager Umar Akmal, 19, in the 146-run defeat.

Bayliss said Malinga’s fitness to play in the 50-over game needed to be reassessed. “We got him in the team to try to bring him back after injury and try to rest him in some matches,” Bayliss said.

“We brought him back through the Twenty20 when he had four-over spells, now we are trying to step it up a little bit to get him to bowl 10-over spells.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/...

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 15, 2009 - 05:24.

#6

New Zealand are thrilled Sri Lanka is not playing Malinga in the Test matches!

The absence of a long-time tormentor and the potential non-selection of a recently emerged nuisance for Sri Lanka's initial test cricket line-up has eased New Zealand's anxieties ahead of the first test in Galle on Tuesday.

More> http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/2756295/Blacks-Caps-dodge-Malinga-for-first-test/