Lasith Malinga

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Malinga grew up in modest circumstances in Rathgama, a coastal village 12 km northwest of Galle. He often played cricket with friends on sand banks and coconut groves. His father Separamadu Milton is a retired bus mechanic. He attended Mahinda College, Vidyaloka College, and Maha Vidyalaya at Thiranagama. He was discovered by former Sri Lankan paceman Champaka Ramanayake, who helped him join Galle Cricket Club and the first XI of Mahinda College. He practices Buddhism and married Tanya Perera in 2010.

In Their Own Story

The narrative of Malinga's career is defined by resilience against injury and unparalleled clutch performance. After developing into Sri Lanka's fastest Test bowler, regularly clocking speeds between 140 and 150 km/h, he announced his retirement from Test cricket on 22 April 2011 to prolong his limited-overs career. However, physical tolls mounted; a back injury and a bone bruise on his left knee caused him to miss the New Zealand and Indian tours before the 2016 World T20. Despite being named captain for the Asia Cup, he could only play against UAE before injuries forced him out of the remaining matches and eventually the World T20 squad. Yet, his comeback was historic. In September 2019, during a series against New Zealand, Malinga became the first bowler to take 100 wickets in Twenty20 Internationals. In that same match, he claimed a hat-trick—his second T20I hat-trick—and took four wickets in four consecutive balls, becoming the second bowler ever to achieve this in T20I history after Rashid Khan. He retired from ODIs on 26 July 2019 against Bangladesh and from franchise cricket in January 2021, before his final retirement announcement in September 2021.

Reader's Guide

Malinga is known for his unorthodox action and dipping slower ball yorkers. He changed death bowling in limited overs cricket. He is the only bowler to have two World Cup hat-tricks, the first to take a double hat-trick, the only to take 4 wickets in 4 balls twice in international cricket, and the only to have two double hat-tricks. He holds the record for most hat-tricks in international cricket. He is the first bowler to take 100 wickets in T20I cricket, and the first to claim two T20I hat-tricks.

Did You Know?

• Malinga is the only bowler in the world to have two World Cup hat-tricks.
• He is the first bowler to take a double hat-trick in international cricket.
• He took 4 wickets in 4 consecutive balls twice in international cricket.
• He is the first bowler to take 100 wickets in Twenty20 International cricket.
• He achieved a hat-trick in T20Is, becoming the first bowler to claim two T20I hat-tricks.