‘Fir se aapka swagat hai’ – Fans react as Lasith Malinga set to join Mumbai Indians as bowling coach for IPL 2024

Lasith Malinga is set to return to Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League 2024. The former player of Mumbai Indians retired from the league after his 2019 season. In the last two seasons in the IPL, Malinga served as the bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals. For the following season, Malinga is set to return as the bowling coach for the Mumbai based franchise.

The news comes after Shane Bond’s long association with the club came to an end. Bond’s contract with Mumbai came to an end. Reportedly, the extension of the contract was not done by Bond and MI. Malinga is set to return to the only team he played in the IPL during his playing days. It will be a return of Malinga to MI after five long years.

Along with Malinga, Kieron Pollard is also set to make his return to Mumbai Indians. Even Pollard was one such player who played all his life for MI in the IPL. Pollard will join the dugout of MI as the batting coach. So, it will be a kind of reunion between the three giants of the club in Rohit Sharma, Malinga, and Pollard. This would be a good combination for the club going ahead.

Former MI players to take the team forward

In the last season, MI had a roller coaster of a journey. After losing the first few matches of the season with no clue whatsoever, MI kept on winning at home and made a brilliant comeback to enter the playoffs of the tournament. In the eliminator, Mumbai defeated Lucknow. But in the Qualifier 2, Mumbai was knocked out by an exceptional innings from Shubman Gill.

Ahead of the IPL 2024, MI has made some big decisions. It seems like MI is trusting on its former legends to take them forward in the league. The return of Bumrah will be a big boost for the Indians. Malinga might just be the right person to guide some young pacers in the team like Akash Madhwal, Arjun Tendulkar, Cameron Green, and so on.

Here’s how the fans reacted to the news: