Lasith Malinga’s ODI retirement left Sri Lanka short of one of the greatest limited-overs bowlers of all-time. Slinga Malinga, as the fast bowler is often called, led the Sri Lanka bowling attack with utmost responsibility and was their bright spark at times when Lanka cricket was under transition and failed to perform consistently. But it seems that Sri Lanka may have finally found a way to deal live a life without the services of Malinga. In a video posted on social video, the Lanka nation looks to have unearthed another “Slinga Malinga” which will help them in coping up with the departure of the 36-year-old.

The video, which surfaced on the internet recently, shows a 17-year-old Matheesha Pathirana bowling with the same ‘Slinga’ action that Malinga was devastating with. Interestingly, the youngster was playing his debut match for the Trinity College in Kandy but already had plenty of deadly Yorkers in his arsenal. The video, which is going viral on social media, shows Pathirana troubling the opposition batsman with some accurate Yorkers – something Malinga has been renowned for. Pathirana eventually finishes with figures of 6/7 (six wickets for just 7 runs) leaving the opposition batting order rattled.

The New Lasith Malinga

Pathirana is believed to a die-hard fan of Malinga and was inspired by the legendary fast bowler. Like his idol, the youngster sends the stumps flying with some devastating deliveries. At 17, he has already been included in the U19 Sri Lanka squad for a provincial tournament and certainly has a bright future ahead.

Meanwhile, Malinga finished as the 3rd highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket for Sri Lanka. The 36-year-old pacer, who has four international hat-tricks to his name, ended with 338 wickets in 220 innings with only Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas ahead of him.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2019 06:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).