@Mumbai Indians
As the T20I series between India and Sri Lanka is set to kick start in Guwahati on 5 January, we take a look at the death bowling guns present on either side. The bowlers who love to torment the opposition batsmen, who love to see the stumps flying and instil fear in the minds of opposition batsmen.
Lasith Malinga may not be the same he used to be 8 years ago but still has the lethal weapon in the death overs to tie the batsmen down for nothing. As they say, there is still no substitute for the toe crusher in a crunch situation when the bowler is under pressure.
Ever since he made his test debut against Australia in 2004, Malinga made everyone sit and take notice of him with his freaky action and more than that the accuracy with which he delivered the yorkers at crucial situations of the game. The Sri Lankan is the only bowler in the International arena to take 5 hattricks which includes 3 in ODIs and 2 in T20Is. The latest of his exploit being the double hat trick against New Zealand last year. Slinga Malinga has lost his pace for sure but he still has the hunger and wisdom in him to pull off miracles.
While Malinga is at the end of his career, Jasprit Bumrah has just begun his career but is already the No.1 limited-overs bowler in the world and has taken giant and rapid strides in an international career in just about 3 years.
Bumrah and Malinga share a good rapport between them as they play together for the same IPL franchise Mumbai Indians. Jasprit Bumrah when he made his first big stage appearance in IPL cleaned up Virat and from there on he never looked back.
The tearaway quick mentioned in his recent interview that Malinga taught him how to be calm under pressure-cooker situations and that helped him to a great deal. Jasprit Bumrah, who was sidelined due to injury for 4 months, has returned to the side and will play the 1st T20 against Sri Lanka.