Lasith Malinga retires from all forms of cricket

The 38-year-old, who took 546 international wickets for Sri Lanka, announced his retirement from T20Is on YouTube, bringing his lengthy career to an end

Lasith Malinga has retired from all forms of cricket.

Speaking on his YouTube channel on September 14, the 38-year-old Sri Lankan announced his T20I retirement, bringing an end to his lengthy career. He previously retired from Test cricket in 2010, ODIs in 2019 and T20 franchise cricket in January 2021. 

"Today is a very special day for me. I want to thank each one of you who have supported me throughout my T20 career. Today I have decided to give 100 per cent rest to my T20 bowling shoes," he said.

"I want to thank Sri Lanka cricket board, Mumbai Indians, Melbourne Stars, Kent Cricket Club, Rangpur Riders, Guyana Warriors, Maratha Warriors and Montreal Tigers. I now want to share my experience with young cricketers who want to play franchise cricket and for their national team.

"While my shoes rest, my love for the game will never ask for rest. Looking forward to seeing our youngsters make history."

^{Lasith Malinga celebrating Mumbai's 2019 IPL victory}

Malinga, who made his international debut in 2004 in a Test match against Australia, represented Sri Lanka on 340 occasions in all formats, taking 546 wickets.

In T20s, he took 390 wickets in 295 career matches – 107 of which came in 84 T20Is - and enjoyed spells in the Big Bash, Caribbean Premier League, T20 Blast and Bangladesh Premier League. However, his greatest success came in the Indian Premier League where he made 122 appearances for Mumbai Indians, taking 170 wickets, and won four titles.

He retires as the leading wicket-taker in T20I history and fourth-highest wicket-taker in T20s, behind  Dwayne Bravo, Imran Tahir and Sunil Narine.