- Superstitious bowler
- Malinga is among those few cricketers who are superstitious on the field.
- On the top of his run-up, Malinga kisses the ball.
2. Only bowler to have two hat-tricks in world cup along with 4 in 4.
- Malinga has number of records to his name, for instance he is the only bowler to have claimed couple of hat-tricks in a prestigious tournament like World Cup.
- In 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, Malinga ran through the South African line-up as he picked his first career hat-trick.
- To add to benefit, he claimed four South African scalps in four consecutive deliveries.
- Later, he decimated Kenya in 2011 World Cup at Colombo and claimed his second hat-trick to become the only bowler to have accomplished such feat.
3. Only bowler with three hat-tricks in ODI
- Malinga is the only bowler to have bagged three ODI hat-tricks.
- His hat-tricks came against South Africa in 2007, Kenya and Australia both in 2011.
4. Tattooed
- Malinga has a tattoo on his right-arm which displays the date of his Test debut and he also has inked his body with the date when he took four wickets in four deliveries against South Africa.
5. Mentor
- Born and brought up in modest circumstances, Malinga hails from a small village called Rathgama.
- Had it not been for former cricketer Champaka Ramanayake, who spotted Malinga bowling in a street, the world would not have witnessed a record machine like him.
6. Until the age of 17, he didn't play with the leather ball. Instead, he played with soft ball on the beach.
7. Although he made his debut in the year 2001, Malinga was first roped into bowl against the Srilankan squad in nets. However he was soon stopped for fear of causing injuries. Aravinda de Silva had said in this regard “ Around about the time we were getting ready for the 2003 world cup, I heard that there was this young pace bowler new in Colombo and how no one really wanted to bat against him, certainly none of the seniors. So I had to have a go.”
8. In 2005, Stephen Fleming while facing Lasith Malinga in one of the matches asked the on-field umpires to take off their ties so that the batsman could spot Malinga's deliveries that come at “weird angles.”
9. In his leisure time, Malinga loves listening to music.
10. Favourite cricketer
- His favourite cricketer is Aravinda de Silva.
11. Marital life
- He is married to Tanya perera, a choreographer and has a son and a daughter.
Source: Internet