Picture Credit: TNPL/ Twitter
Sri Lankan cricketer Lasith Malinga is undoubtedly one of the legendary bowlers to have ever graced the game of cricket. The 37-year-old has 101 Test wickets, 338 scalps in ODIs and 107 dismissals to his name in T20Is. He was also a fan favourite in India, thanks to his illustrious career with Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League where he took 170 wickets in 122 appearances. However, there was something else also which makes Malinga one of the most popular cricketers across the globe.
The peculiar action of the right-arm fast bowler was always the talking point of his career. He was famously called as 'Slinga Malinga' for his slinging round-arm bowling action which the batsmen used to find very difficult to play against. Many bowlers like Nuwan Thushara and even Kedar Jadhav have tried to replicate Malinga's slinging action in past and now, there is another entrant to that list.
Lasith Malinga in TNPL 2021?
India have notably found their own version of Lasith Malinga, who is currently playing in the ongoing season of Tamil Nadu Premier League. The right-arm pacer Athisayaraj Davidson has caught a few eyeballs with his round-arm action while playing for Nellai Royal Kings.
While the pacer keeps on changing the way he releases the delivery, he produced a duplicate copy of Malinga's trademark in-swinging delivery to the left-handed batsman when he dismissed Chepauk Super Gillies' player S Sujay in match 6 of TNPL 2021.
Watch the video here:
Who is Athisayaraj Davidson?
The Tamil Nadu pacer is recognized as one of the most talented T20 specialists in the state. Although he doesn't bowl at a very lethal pace, Athisayaraj Davidson has certain skill-sets which makes him an exciting prospect, especially in the shortest format of the game. The 29-year-old is a skiddy bowler and can often trouble the batsmen with his round-arm slinging action.
Davidson has been on the radar of various IPL franchises in last couple of years considering his impressive performances in Tamil Nadu Premier League. Having registered figures of 1/35 and 2/31 in the first two matches of TNPL 2021, the Nellai Royal Kings' pacer would be hoping to build on the early momentum he has got, going ahead in the tournament.