Lasith Malinga, the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Indian Premier League, has decided to hang up his boots from IPL and franchise cricket. The announcement came hours after MI released Malinga from their squad, with the franchise owner Aakash Ambani confirming the news."Lasith Malinga has been at the core of Mumbai Indians for 12 years. We respect his decision, even though I would have liked him to be part of our bowling attack for another five years," he said in a statement issued by MI. "Malinga is an MI legend. His contributions to Mumbai Indians' journey are invaluable. We will miss the Wankhede chant for him, but he will always be in the heart of all MI fans. At Mumbai Indians, Malinga will always be a part of the MI family and we hope we can continue to lean on his experience in a non-playing capacity in the future."
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Malinga, who has been with MI since 2009, the second edition of the IPL, has taken 170 wickets in the IPL from 122 matches. He last played in 2019, where he bowled a match-winning final over to give MI their record fourth IPL title win. Last year, he decided to give the tournament a miss due to personal reasons. The four-time IPL winner cited ‘pandemic situation’ and ‘travel restrictions’ as the reasons behind his retirement. On Wednesday, January 20, the Mumbai Indians franchise released a 20-second video in tribute of their most decorated pacer. The video chronicled Malinga’s incredible journey for the franchise over the years. Here is a look at the heartfelt and emotional tribute paid by Mumbai Indians for the cricketer after his retirement announcement was made public. Captain Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah were among the 18 players to be retained by Mumbai Indians from their squad that lifted the 2020 title in the United Arab Emirates. Lasith Malinga was among the seven cricketers to be released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2021 auction.
