Thanks to IPL, the world knows who Eshan Malinga is

Eshan Malinga with his family and SRH head coach Daniel Vettori

• Gets high praise from SRH skipper Pat Cummins

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

One of the few reasons why Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have qualified to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs is Eshan Malinga, the 25-year-old right-arm fast-medium bowler from Sivali Central College, Ratnapura.

Malinga is SRH’s leading wicket-taker, with 19 wickets in 14 games, and, along with him, Sakib Hussain in his debut season has picked up 15 in 10 games. Together, they have been instrumental in SRH making it to the playoffs.

Their performances have not gone unnoticed for SRH skipper Pat Cummins, one of the world’s most celebrated fast bowlers, admitted learning from the way they bowled. 

“They’ve been fantastic. I’ve actually learned a lot off those guys as well, the way Eshan bowled all season, particularly in that powerplay, he’s been the form bowler of the comp, with his slower balls and he’s mixing up different things, and of course, Sakib is there as well, so captain’s dream,” he said.

Although he had played seven matches for SRH in the 2025 IPL and picked up 13 wickets at an economy rate of 8.92, Malinga was more or less an underrated bowler, with very few knowing him by name. But in the early part of the ongoing IPL, Malinga has become a key pillar of the SRH bowling attack, with the ability to consistently remove some of the biggest white-ball names and playing a crucial role in SRH’s victories.

“During the matches, we have a chat with the bowling coach and the other players,” said Malinga. “Trying to play our calm game sticking to the basics. Our pace attack, we are not taking much pressure on us because it’s a do or die game. With that mindset, we are going to the ground and we execute that bowling. Sakib also, he is a very good potential bowler. He always says that I am going to play like a tennis ball match. That’s the calm mindset we have. We have a good young bowling attack where everyone can bowl like 140 plus.”

For Malinga, the journey to gain top recognition has not come on a platter. It has been one of sacrifice, resilience, and his family.

“I tried to stop playing cricket because I wanted to look after my family. My father was a tuk driver, but the family members said no, you don’t give up, we can look after you,” Malinga said in an interview.

“In my childhood I started playing tennis ball cricket. I did not play hard ball till the age of 18. We had a schools’ ‘big’ match, which was my first hard ball game. I got the Man of the Match award. After that people started calling me ‘Opanayake Express’ after the village I come from,” Malinga said.

Malinga was out of cricket for one and a half years with a serious back injury, and when he returned in 2019, he took part in a competition to pick the fastest bowler in Sri Lanka.

“I didn’t want to take part because I didn’t think that I had much speed in my bowling, but my mother insisted that I go. In the first selection, I bowled at 127, and in the final selection, I got to 141. I was the Under-19 fastest bowler in that competition.”

Malinga comes from Ratnapura, where not a lot of cricket is played. “Most of the boys who play cricket give up the game after they leave school. But my mind said, if you have to do something, you have to sacrifice a lot of things. I travelled to Colombo to bowl as a net bowler to the national team. It was a very difficult 3–4-hour journey. I travelled by bus. I had a dream to play for my country.”

Malinga broke into the national white-ball side in January 2025 and since then has appeared in seven ODIs and eight T20Is. The experience he has gained playing in the IPL is bound to broaden his international career with the national team. 

Come the IPL playoffs and Malinga’s entire family will be watching him play on one of cricket’s biggest stages.