Colombo: Sri Lanka fast bowling legend Lasith Malinga and the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has retired from franchise cricket, Mumbai Indians (MI) announced on Wednesday (January 20).
The development comes hours after MI released Malinga from their squad for IPL 2021 and announced the retained and released list of the players. The franchise owner Aakash Ambani confirmed the news.
View this post on Instagram
“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.”
Since 2009 the second edition of the IPL, Malinga has been with MI and has taken 170 wickets in the IPL from 122 matches and is the highest wicket-taker in the history of the tournament. 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 pull himself out of IPL due to personal reasons.
“After discussing with family, I think now is the right time to retire from all franchise cricket. The pandemic situation and the restrictions on travel will make it difficult for me given my personal circumstances to participate fully in franchise cricket for the next year and therefore it is best to make this decision now.”
“I have discussed the same with Mumbai Indians management in recent days as they prepare for the upcoming auction and they have been very supportive and understanding. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ambani family, everyone at the Mumbai Indians franchise and all our fans for the wonderful 12 years,” Malinga said.
“Mumbai Indians has treated me like family, supporting me 100 per cent in every situation both on and off the field, and always giving me the confidence and the freedom to play my natural game whenever I walked onto the field.”
“I have collected so many happy memories that I cherish and I am very grateful to have played for so long for the best franchise in world cricket. I would like to wish Nita Ambani, coach Mahela (Jayawardene), Akash (Ambani) and the MI family all the best for the upcoming season,” he signed off.
