IPL 2024: Lasith Malinga leaves Rajasthan Royals and joins Mumbai Indians, franchise appoints bowling coach

Five-time champion Mumbai Indians (MI) has made a big decision before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The team management has brought back former Sri Lankan cricket team bowler Lasith Malinga to the franchise. Mumbai Indians have appointed Malinga as the new bowling coach. Malinga will replace Shane Bond, who held the position in the team from 2015 until he stepped down earlier this week.

Malinga, who was previously the bowling coach of IPL team Rajasthan Royals for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He has joined the Mumbai Indians coaching team led by Mark Boucher and will join the team along with his former teammate Kieron Pollard, who serves as the batting coach.

Malinga said, "It is truly an honor for me to be appointed the bowling coach of Mumbai Indians. After MI New York and MI Cape Town, my journey in OneFamily continues. I look forward to working closely with Mark, Pauly, Rohit Sharma, and the rest of the team." "I am looking forward to doing more. I particularly liked the approach of MI's bowling unit last season. Many of the young talents in the team have the potential to excel."

As an IPL player, Malinga won four IPL titles for Mumbai in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019, apart from the Champions League T20 trophy in 2011. Overall, Malinga played 139 matches for Mumbai, taking 195 wickets at an economy rate of 7.12.

Malinga's 170 wickets came in the IPL, which is the joint-sixth most wickets taken by a bowler in the history of the tournament. Malinga, apart from 11 years as a Mumbai player, also served as the team's mentor in 2018, before retiring in 2021.

Malinga appeared in a total of 139 matches for Mumbai Indians, in which he took 195 wickets at an economy rate of 7.12. Of these, 170 wickets came in the IPL, which is jointly the sixth-highest in the league.