Lasith Malinga retires from T20 to bring curtains to his illustrious professional career
Synopsis
Lasith Malinga has played 295 T20 matches and claimed 390 wickets at an economy of 7.07. He was an integral part of Mumbai Indians in the IPL, having won the title on record five occasions.
Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga has announced his retirement from Twent20 cricket, bringing an end to his illustrious professional cricketing career. After being dropped from the Lankan side, besides him pulling out of several overseas T20 competitions, it was only a matter of time before Malinga announced the same.
He announced his decision on Tuesday via his YouTube channel, where he said. "Today, I decided I want to give 100% rest to my T20 bowling shoes. I want to thank each and everyone who supported me and blessed me throughout my T20 journey," he said in the video.
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Speaking further in the video, he thanked the team members and officials of the sides he has played for to date, including Lanka and Mumbai Indians. He said that he was proud to have the experience of playing with these sides, and in the latter part of his journey, he wished to share the experience with all while he felt that it was time to give lay his boots to rest.
As far as Malinga's T20 career is concerned, it has been phenomenal, having claimed 390 wickets in 295 matches at an economy of 7.07. It also includes his 84 T20Is, where he claimed 107 wickets at 7.42.
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He happened to be an integral part of Lanka's T20 side, especially in 2009 and 2012, when it played the final of the ICC World T20, while he also helped the side win the title in 2014. He played a decisive role in the success of MI, winning record five Indian Premier League titles with it until last season.
Following his retirement, MI paid tribute to him on social media. In the first post, it captioned, "From crushing batsmen's toes to getting lifted on shoulders, Mali achieved everything in T20s. ๐๐ฅ As he announces his retirement from T20 cricket, we just have three words to say - ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค. ๐๐จ๐ฎ. ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐. ๐".
Later, in another post, it said, "๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ฒ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐๐. ๐ช๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ! ๐๐".
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