Lasith Malinga, 35, has announced he will be retiring from ODI cricket after the first ODI of a three-match series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Friday
The most fitting farewell for retiring paceman Lasith Malinga will be to win the series-opening limited-overs international against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne said Thursday.
The 35-year-old Malinga is retiring from one-day international cricket after the first game in the best-of-three series, which starts Friday.
“Mainly we want to focus about winning the match. That’s the best thing we can give for him … we will try to give him the best farewell in this first one-day,” Karunaratne said.
Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said even though Malinga’s achievements and legacy are phenomenal, his lineup will play hard to prevent a Sri Lanka victory in the fast bowler’s last ODI.
“He has been great ambassador of the game. He is one cricketer that a lot of young children after watching him have started playing cricket,” Tamim said. “I still remember when he first came into the scene specially, back in Bangladesh people wanted to bowl like him.
“Even when we were playing Sri Lanka we used to find (a bowler) who has a similar action like Malinga and we used to call him for nets. That (is the) kind of an impact he has given to world cricket.” Read More
