Short biography of Lasith Malinga

Separamadu Lasith Malinga was born on 28^th August 1983 in Galle, Srilanka. He is a specialist fast bowler with a unique round-arm action and world T20 wining captain in 2014. Sometimes he is referred to as a sling action, which leads to his nickname, "Slinga Malinga" and conversely, his bowling style being nicknamed "Malinga the Slinga"

He is known for his ability to take consecutive wickets: he is the only bowler in the world to have two World Cup hat-tricks, the only bowler to have taken three hat-tricks in ODIs and the only player to have taken four wickets in four consecutive balls in any form of international cricket.

His fastest ball was clocked at 155.7 km/h (96.8 mph) in 2011, which is still tied for the 4th fastest speed amongst active bowlers (shared with Dale Steyn) as of 3 January, 2015.

Malinga is also a clever exponent of variation of pace. Malinga announced his retirement from Test cricket in April 2011 with the aim to extend his career in the shorter formats, and is determined to play World Cup 2015. The decision turned out to be a correct one.

Malinga was the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and was part of the team that made the final of 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. He played a significant role in Sri Lanka reaching the final in two World Cups and two ICC World T20s.