Mitchell McClenaghan, Shane Bond applaud Lasith Malinga's mentorship

Lasith Malinga is the leading wicket-taker in Indian Premier League (IPL) history with 154 wickets in 110 matches. He is followed by Amit Mishra who is 20 wickets short of Malinga’s score. The Sri Lankan bowler had been an inseparable member of the Mumbai Indians (MI) family for 9 years. However, with age catching up and resulting in injuries and his bowling figures taking a hit off-late, he went unsold in this year’s IPL auction but was bagged by MI as their bowling mentor.

He has won many matches for the team with the ball and played an important role MI’s title victory over the years. Malinga at his peak was a dream bowler for any T20 team in any part of the world. MI’s official Twitter handle posted a video of Kiwi left-arm-pacer Mitchell McClenaghan, Indian left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan and coach Shane Bond talking about Malinga’s mentoring skills.

“Malinga was probably the best T20 bowler. I think it’s kind of cool that he stayed in the set-up. I think the best thing about Mali is that if things aren’t going right, Mali just needs to smile and everyone relaxes,” said McClenaghan.

“I really enjoyed the years that I worked alongside him. And he shares such a good rapport with people. It allows the two of us to share the load and for me to keep learning from Mali,” said Bond.

Watch it here:

"If things aren't going right, Mali just needs to smile, & everyone relaxes." ?

Lasith Malinga is an inseparable part of the MI family. After serving us with distinction for nine seasons, the Sri Lankan legend is now mentoring our bowlers. #CricketMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/jEo2uQVpqa

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 23, 2018

MI have had a poor start to their IPL season having lost four of their five matches. All their matches have gone to the last over except the one they won against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), which they managed win comfortably after a brilliant knock from skipper Rohit Sharma.

The major concern for them currently is the lack of scoring runs in the death overs and failing to capitalize on moments of brilliance. However, this team is known for bouncing back even if they lose multiple games on the trot initially because they have done so and also gone on to win the title as well.

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