Five-time winners Mumbai Indians have appointed its former speedster Lasith Malinga as the bowling coach, the Indian Premier League franchise said on Friday. The Sri Lankan great will succeed New Zealand's Shane Bond in the MI ranks.
Malinga, 40, will join the coaching team led by Mark Boucher and his former teammate Kieron Pollard ahead of the upcoming season. He had served as the bowling coach for MI New York in Major League Cricket and MI Cape Town in SA20.
Assuming the duties as the bowling coach of Mumbai Indians🤝💙
— Lasith Malinga (@malinga_ninety9) October 21, 2023
Great to be back in the place I call my second home. MI have shown unwavering trust and support throughout my playing career, and now, it’s my turn to pass on that support to the younger generation🙌#OneFamily pic.twitter.com/rC2i85oazB
"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 was quoted as saying by PTI.
Earlier this week, Rajasthan Royals had shared a farewell note for Malinga, thanking him for his services.
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.
𝗔𝗔𝗟𝗔 𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗔𝗟𝗔 𝕊𝕃𝕀ℕ𝔾𝔸 𝗔𝗔𝗟𝗔 🤩#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MumbaiMeriJaan @malinga_ninety9 pic.twitter.com/vtqOGiWXT4
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 20, 2023
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.
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.
- With inputs from PTI
