Sri Lanka legend Lasith Malinga retires from all forms of cricket

Sri Lanka fast-bowling legend Lasith Malinga has finally decided to retire from all forms of cricket. On September 14, Malinga announced that he is going to hang up his shoes from T20 cricket, which was the last format which the 38-year-old would play during the twilight of his career. 

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Over the years, Malinga was a feared pacer, known for his killer yorkers and ability to take wickets at will. The pacer played a total of 295 T20 matches, picking up 380 wickets. Through his career, he played in several T20 leagues, having decided to give up Test cricket in 2011. In his youtube video, Malinga thanked each of the franchises for whom he played during his extended T20 career. 

While sharing the video on Twitter, Malinga wrote, “Hanging up my #T20 shoes and #retiring from all forms of cricket! Thankful to all those who supported me in my journey, and looking forward to sharing my experience with young cricketers in the years to come.” 

In the video, Malinga started by thanking Sri Lanka Cricket and each of his national team mates.  He continued by thanking Mumbai Indians for whom he played 122 games in the IPL, picking up 170 wickets. He played for them between 2008 and 2020 and was never associated with any other IPL team. After this, he also thanked Melbourne Stars, for whom he played in the Big Bash League between 2012 and 2014. 

He then proceeded to thank each of the following teams for whom he played T20 cricket: Kent County Cricket Club (England, 2009), Rangpur Riders (Bangladesh, 2017), Guyana Amazon Warriors (West Indies, 2013), Maratha Arabians (T10 League), Montreal Tigers (Canada, 2018). He retires as Sri Lanka’s highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket, with 107 wickets in 84 games.