Lasith Malinga - Interesting Facts, Trivia, And Records About 'Slinga Malinga'

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Lasith Malinga, who celebrates his birthday on 28th August, is one of the greatest limited-overs bowlers. The Sri Lanka fast bowler is known for his unorthodox sling action, which also resulted in him being known as 'Slinga Malinga'. 

Let's take a look at some interesting facts, trivia, and records about 'Toe-Crusher' Lasith Malinga:

1) Lasith Malinga was born in 1983. He grew up in the Coastal village of Rathgama, near Galle. Malinga's father is a retired bus mechanic. 

2) Malinga used to play on the beach near his village. His unique action got the attention of former Sri Lanka pacer Champaka Ramanayake, who invited him to join the Galle cricket club. At all the key moments of his formative years, Malinga had the encouragement and backing of Ramanayake. 

3) Lasith Malinga had a dream test debut. Against Australia in 2004, the 'Slinga Malinga' picked six wickets in the match. After the game, Adam Gilchrist gifted him one of the match stumps. 

4) Malinga is the only bowler to take four wickets in four balls, twice. The first came against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup match and the next against New Zealand in 2019. 

5) He is the only bowler to have two World Cup hattricks, three hattricks in ODIs, and five hattricks across formats. 

6) Malinga was the first bowler to take 100 T20I wickets. He has two hattricks in T20Is. 

7) Malinga was handy with the bat as well, lower down the order. Against Australia in 2010, he, along with Angelo Mathews, shared the highest ninth-wicket partnership in ODIs - 132. 

8) Not only for his unorthodox action, but Lasith Malinga is also known for his curly colored hair, piercings, and tattoos. During the 2007 World Cup in West Indies, Barbados Magazine named him the sexiest cricketer. 

9) One of Malinga's tattoos on the right arm displays the date of his Test debut and the date on which he took four wickets in four balls against South Africa in 2007. 

10) Lasith Malinga played 30 test matches in which he picked 101 wickets; he also has one half-century in the format. In 226 ODIs, Malinga took 338 wickets. His 107 wickets in T20Is came in 84 matches.