WATCH: Nuwan Thushara, the Lasith Malinga clone, makes T20I debut
When Lasith Malinga broke onto the scene with a slinging action, he had the world sit up and take notice. His slinging action made it tough for the batters to pick and he constantly troubled the batters around the world. He went on to become one of the greats of the game, especially in the shorter formats.
Two years after his last T20I, Sri Lanka seem to have found a replacement for the great Lasith Malinga. While he is still young in his career but at least in terms of action, Nuwan Thushara looks like the clone of Malinga.
The 27-year-old fast bowler was drafted into the Sri Lankan playing XI for the (ongoing) second T20I against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He replaced left-arm pacer Binura Fernando who was unwell. Thushara came into bowl in the second over of the game and he bowled a near yorker first up. The ball did shape away a touch but the Australian captain Aaron Finch defended it well.
cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) posted a GIF of Thushara’s first delivery in international cricket. And within a couple of minutes, they made a comparison GIF where they had Malinga’s action on one side and Thushara’s on the other.
WATCH NUWAN THUSHARA IN ACTION
There's one obvious difference…
Malinga's hair on another level #AUSvSL pic.twitter.com/trh0BhuStq
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 13, 2022
While Australia raced away to a quick start as they added 52 runs in the first six overs, Thushara was pretty impressive in his first couple of overs (conceding just 12 runs in the powerplay). He was the one to give Sri Lanka their first breakthrough. He had Ben McDermott caught at mid-on (for 18) to bag his first international scalp.
Thushara was pretty good in the Lanka Premier League in December 2021. He returned with 12 wickets from eight games at an average of 16.00. He also picked up a five-wicket haul in the tournament. Overall, Thushara has played 46 T20 matches and has taken 62 wickets at an economy rate of 7.69 before he was handed his maiden T20I cap. He has played a handful of first-class and List ‘A’ games as well.