When I was in Colombo, I made sure that I visited the Sinhalese Sports Club, where the Sri Lankan ‘A’ team was scheduled to practice. Sri Lanka A regulars like Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunawardena and Saman Jayantha were around, but all fingers were only pointing towards one man, who they hailed as the next best thing to happen for Sri Lankan cricket – Lasith Malinga. The youngster from Rathgama (a village near Galle) had impressed many pundits of the game in the island nation with his performances in New Zealand with the Lankan A team. He notably becomes the first cricketer to play for Sri Lanka from the southern city Galle.
A product of the Mahinda College (a very famous college at Galle), this fiery speedster began playing softball at the age of 13 and cricket entered his life as late as when he was 17. The secret behind the unusual action that we see from Lasith is the fast yorkers he used to bowl during his softball days. After seeing the raw talent and youthful enthusiasm in this future star of Lankan cricket, Champaka Ratnayake (a former Sri Lankan paceman and a coach at the Cricket Foundation at Galle) presented Lasith with a chance to represent Galle CC in first class cricket. His returns of 8 wickets in his debut first class match reiterated the coach’s faith in his potential. Lasith never looked back after this debut performance.
He made rapid strides with the Sri Lankan ‘A’ team on its tour of New Zealand in the winter and gave a lot of positive impulses to the selectors. His constant knack of picking wickets and some spells of aggressive bowling saw him as a surprise selection to the Aussie tour. He gave positive vibes to the Lankan dressing room after the 6/90 he took against the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI and just did not stop after that. Darren Lehmann was his first test victim and for someone of his age and inexperience, it was encouraging to see someone play with the batsman’s mind. His debut series against the Aussies yielded 10 wickets and has certainly became the “poster boy of Lankan cricket” for the moment. His ODI career hasn’t yet ripened into the manner he burst into the Test scene, but watch out for this smiling assassin in the days, weeks and years to come.
I for one believe that we could see a bowler whose uniqueness rather than deliveries could get batsmen out. His progress has been great as a bowler and one only hopes that he will be properly guided and treated by the Sri Lankan Cricket authorities – for they have unearthed a prospective jewel. It is great to see him earn the respect of the Australian batsman, and especially these words of respect and wisdom could probably be all that he needs to take his confidence to a different level. Its been Irfan Pathan from India, Lasith Malinga from Sri Lanka, I guess its time for Pakistan to unveil a bowling sensation when they tour Australia later this year to give the Aussies a stern reminder of the great talent of pacers in Asia.