Mumbai Indians announce appointment of Lasith Malinga as bowling coach

Mumbai Indians have officially appointed former Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga as their bowling coach, the Indian Premier League franchise said on Friday, promptly filling the void left by the departure of Shane Bond.

The 40-year-old Malinga, who played for the five-time champions in his prime, will join the coaching team led by Mark Boucher and his former teammate Kieron Pollard ahead of the upcoming season.

The franchise believed the three ex-cricketers will be ”forging a strong partnership in the dugout.” The erstwhile slinger has also served as the bowling coach for MI New York in Major League Cricket and MI Cape Town in SA20.

”I am looking forward to working closely with Mark, Polly, Rohit and the rest of the team, especially the bowling unit, whose approach I loved last season, and the young MI talent that has the potential to excel, backed by the passionate MI Paltan,” Malinga said.

Malinga has won many crunch games with his bowling for both Sri Lanka in international cricket and MI at the IPL. The former star pacer has spent close to 13 years with MI since 2008 — 11 years as a player and a year (IPL 2018) as MI bowling mentor. He was part of the MI NY staff this year. With the extended MI group, which included MI New York and MI Cape Town, Malinga has won seven trophies, including four IPL, two CLT20, and an MLC.

Malinga, who retired in 2021, also worked with the Rajasthan Royals until this year. As far as Bond is concerned, he has been associated with MI since 2015, winning four IPL trophies as the bowling coach of the team.