Lasith Malinga to seek Zaheer Khan's advice in a bid to regain form

For many years, Lasith Malinga was the name that gave nightmares to the batsmen. With his fiery pace, toe-crushing yorkers and above all the uncanny action, Malinga has been synonymous with terror for a long, long time. But age has finally taken a toll on the man as he has lost his venom now. In a bid to regain his pace and composure, Malinga will be seeking the advice of a retired legend who served his national team for a long time, Zaheer Khan.

Sri Lankan cricket is already suffering massively due to the transition phase since the retirement of two legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Led by Virat Kohli, the Men in Blue are simply outclassing the wounded lions in every encounter. In such a situation, Maling holds the key to success. But unfortunately for the Lankan fans, the 34-year-old today, is just a mere shadow of his glorious past.

To regain lost territories, Malinga will take help from ‘Zak’. He has understood that only pace can no longer be a good weapon and he must learn a trick or two about swing and seam now. “Zaheer is more of a seam and swing bowler, and I want to learn more of that kind of thing over the next few years. That’s what I discussed with him,” said Malinga.

The smiling assassin was honest when he admitted that his pace has cut down and hence he is trying the swing. “I have played 14 years of international and franchise cricket. I have played (against) every other country and every single player in international cricket. Now I’m 34. My pace is cut down. If you (would have) asked me (this) 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have expected that. But whoever is coming towards the end of his career, there are failures. People talk about them not being fit enough, or not picking him,” said the owner of 101 Test wickets.

Malinga, who is just a wicket away from reaching 300 ODI wickets, further stated “He (Zaheer) is a legend of the Indian bowling attack in previous years. We always talk with so many bowlers around the world. When I meet them, I want to get their experiences also. Because they are in the commentary box, they look at every single one of my body movements and my bowling action, and how I swing the ball. They have a good idea of how I’m going now. Then, every time I have an opportunity, we speak about my bowling action, and how I have to improve.”

Wants to play until 2023

While many speculations are surfacing other the news platforms regarding his retirement, Malinga has stated that he is looking forward to swinging his arm till 2023. “I’m ready to play until 2023,” said Malinga when asked about his retirement plans. While it is not sure whether he is aware of the fact that he will be 40-years-old in 2023, he sounded very confident on the aspect of staying fit for more six years.