Legendary pacer Lasith Malinga has been appointed as a specialist bowling coach for Sri Lanka's senior men's national team's upcoming tour of Australia, country's cricket board announced on Wednesday.
"Malinga, in his new short-term role as a specialist coach, will support Sri Lanka's bowlers, providing tactical insight and technical expertise to help the on-field execution of strategic plans," Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a release.
"SLC is confident that Malinga's vast experience and renowned death-bowling expertise, especially in the T20 format, will help the team immensely going into this series."
Sri Lanka are scheduled to play five T20 Internationals in Australia starting from February 11.
The former player, one of the island nation's greatest fast bowlers, has worked as a mentor for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in 2018.
The 38-year-old Malinga was appointed by the executive committee of SLC in consultation with the technical advisory committee of the Lankan board. The appointment will be effective from February 1 to 20.
During an illustrious career in which the slinger has made a name as one of the world's finest bowlers in slog overs, Malinga played 30 Tests, 226 ODIs and 84 T20Is before retiring from the game.
He is one of only four bowlers with more than 100 T20I wickets.
"We have some very talented young bowlers and I am very excited about the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge to help them develop," Malinga said about his appointment.
Meanwhile, Rumesh Ratnayake has been named as the interim coach of Sri Lankan team for the Australia tour.
