Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga Tutors Aussie Pacer Marcus Stoinis on Slow Ball Execution Ahead of World Cup
Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga is among the veterans of the game and he has no issues in imparting his knowledge on to his colleagues, even if they are from an opposition team. After Sri Lanka’s World cup warm-up match against Australia on Monday, where they lost by five wickets, Malinga was seen tutoring Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis with the ball.
The warm-up match was a final outing for both the sides ahead of the World Cup campaign which commences from May 30 onwards. After the match, Malnga shared tips with Stoinis and taught him how to send down a slower ball.
“Variations is very important in the short-format game. During IPL also he (Stoinis) had wanted to know how I bowl (it),” Malinga was quoted as saying by the ICC website.
“I wanted to give him tips – that’s how cricket moves forward. Whoever wants to know, I will help them. I’ll share tricks on how to bowl slow balls, which situation you will use it, why you want to use the slow one,” the 35-year old said.
Not an everyday show this is….Lasith Malinga giving some Bowling tips to Marcus Stoinis ahead of #CWC19….Hats off to their team spirit… pic.twitter.com/d5EQLoCIEG
— 🇮🇳Kaustav Dasgupta🇮🇳 (@KDasgupta_18) May 27, 2019
Malinga is one of the great exponents of the slower ball and has unleashed it on many occasions to snare wickets. Recently, he was seen bowling the last over of the Indian Premier League final, pulling off a remarkable one-run victory for Mumbai Indians after backing himself to bowl the slower ball as his final delivery against Chennai Super Kings.
“Skill comes first, then you have to analyse the game. That’s two things a bowler needs to (do well),” he said.
Malinga further said Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada are currently the best among the fast bowlers.
“Cricket is a batsman’s game,” he said, adding “but bowlers can change the game”.
(With IANS Inputs)