NEW DELHI: There's only one thing on the minds of IPL teams not titled Mumbai Indians: How and why is Lasith Malinga so dangerous? And how can his success be emulated?
The MI seamer has bagged 24 wickets in 10 games in IPL 4 so far, and his strike rate has sent shockwaves down opposition spines. While his slinging action cannot be emulated, maybe there are lessons to learn from Malinga's success for every Indian seamer.
For one, Malinga is adept at not pitching the ball in a good length area, which is between four to six metres from the stumps. His preferred length is between six to eight metres, and by mixing his deliveries, he ensures that none of the batsmen are able to read him easily.
By the time you have read Malinga, an over is already up. Then there are the variations. If a batsman is expecting Malinga to bowl one of the deadly yorkers, there could be a bouncer - either fastish or a markedly slower one - in store.
As Virender Sehwag has pointed out, Malinga doesn't depend on the pitch to be effective. An economy rate of below seven in the T20 format also marks him out as extraordinary.
In his team, Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh are the other two bowlers who have that kind of an economy rate, and the only other IPL bowlers in this club are Pune Warriors' Rahul Sharma and Kolkata's Iqbal Abdulla.
"Malinga is very quick through the air and that is probably why he doesn't bother how the pitch is playing. Irrespective of the nature of the track, he will give you wickets. If he is bowling on a pitch that will assist pacers, he will be simply unplayable," former Indian pacer Manoj Prabhakar said, adding: "In this format, every batsman is trying to hit out. The bowlers who have not done something innovative to survive have struggled. Malinga is a thinking and innovative bowler."
India's bowling coach Eric Simons agreed that Malinga's success is a pointer for every IPL seamer. "He is a unique bowler. But everything that works with him can't work for someone else. The focus should be on concentrating on your strengths to develop yourself as a mature bowler," Simons said, pointing out that Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel have been bowling exceptionally well this season because they know their limits.
Reverse swing is another important element in Malinga's repertoire. "He reverses the ball late. Even Zaheer can do it well, but in T20 it's not effective because he doesn't have Malinga's pace. Munaf gets close to the stumps and is showing improvement in every series. It will do a world of good to the other Indian seamers if they follow Zaheer and Munaf's footsteps," Prabhakar said, adding that Sreesanth has the talent but not the temperament to try things differently.
While Zaheer and Munaf have been India's best bowlers, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Vinay Kumar are the other top contenders for the West Indies tour.
Praveen depends heavily on swing, and is not as effective with the older ball. Ishant depends too much on his rhythm to get going, while Vinay utilises the short ball well and also varies his pace.
Against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Vinay uprooted Chris Gayle's off-stump using a Malinga-style 'slinging' action.
Early wickets are a must in T20 if a team's score is to be limited to the 150-run range, and this is where Malinga has been so effective for MI.
He has targeted the top order with success in every match. How many Indian bowlers can meet such a requirement?
DEADLY MALINGA
Matches: 10
Wickets: 24
Economy Rate: 5.79
Strike Rate: 9.7
How Slinga foxes batsmen: Bowls short of a good length, between six to eight metres from the stumps Lethally accurate yorker Mixes up deliveries well Also uses fast and slow bouncers Reverse swings at speed.
