IPL 2022: Lasith Malinga Appointed As Rajasthan Royals' Fast Bowling Coach

Former Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga has been roped in by Rajasthan Royals (RR) as a fast bowling coach ahead of the IPL 2022 season. The league stage begins on March 26 with the first encounter between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Ahead of the start, the teams are shoring up their management and bringing in the recruits. Rajasthan has done the same and brought in Malinga, who is one of the IPL legends. He played for the Mumbai Indians (MI) and was part of many title-winning squads.

Rajasthan had earlier hinted at the possibility by tweeting an edited picture of Riyan Parag with Malinga’s trademark curly afro hairstyle. They soon after confirmed the news with the caption: “*kisses the ball* Lasith Malinga. IPL. Pink.”

Check out Lasith Malinga’s appointment confirmation here:

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Lasith Malinga. IPL. Pink. ?#RoyalsFamily | #TATAIPL2022 | @ninety9sl pic.twitter.com/p6lS3PtlI3

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 11, 2022

Ahead of the mega auction, Rajasthan retained Sanju Samson (INR 14 cr), Jos Buttler (INR 10 cr), and Yashashvi Jaiswal (INR 4 cr). Samson will continue to lead the side which has added a bunch of international stars to its squad.

Their most expensive purchase was Prasidh Krishna, for whom they shelled out INR 10 crores. West Indies’ batter Shimron Hetmyer got INR 8.50 crores while Trent Boult bagged a contract worth INR 8 crores.

Rajasthan Royals will play their first match on March 29 against the 2016 champions, Sunrisers Hyderabad. All the league stage games will be played across four venues in two cities – Mumbai and Pune.

Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2022:

Sanju Samson (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell.

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