When you go looking for data on reverse swing – or old-ball swing to be pedantic – one unexpected name keeps cropping up these days. Actually, half of that name would be one of the first on your mind if Lasith had not retired.
Quietly, Eshan Malinga has emerged as the premier reverse-swing bowler in the world. He doesn’t have the uniqueness of action as his namesake, nor the high pace of some others. But he is a shrewd operator. In one match last year, he reversed the ball as early as the 12th over. Not just any reverse swing, but consistent tail of more than two degrees.
Also, Malinga’s is not in the broader category of old-ball swing. When you bowl with an upright seam with no change in your release and the ball swings towards the (relatively) shiny side, it is technically contrast swing. For the sake of simplifying terminology, nowadays it is put in the same basket as reverse swing.
Some bowlers still bowl the way Waqar Younis used to, with the seam pointing to fine leg. Mohammad Wasim did something similar against Bangladesh in Kolkata in their 2023 ODI World Cup match.
Malinga does it regularly. Once the ball is ready, his arm goes slightly lower, the seam tilts towards fine leg, and the ball swings more than it does for the other upright-seam practitioners of old-ball swing. Accordingly, he primarily bowls in the back half of the innings: 60% of his deliveries for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL have come in the second half.
SRH recognise what Malinga brings. Possibly by design, the outfield in Hyderabad is the hardest and barest of all IPL venues. The pitch is bare. Bowlers keep banging the ball into the surface to scuff it up quickly so they can load the less damaged side with saliva in order to get it going.
Defending 194 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their IPL 2026 game on Saturday, all the fast bowlers started with short balls, even with the new ball. Praful Hinge was hit for a six first ball, Nitish Kumar Reddy had Sanju Samson caught on the pull and Sakib Hussain went for five wides down the leg side. Malinga himself bowled a brute to rip the glove of Ruturaj Gaikwad on the way to the keeper. As much as they could without drawing the umpires’ ire, the fielders kept bouncing their throws on the square.
The result was that by the time Malinga came in for his second over, the 11th of the innings, the ball was ready. CSK needed just 84 off the last ten with seven wickets in hand. But Malinga turned the game on its head with the wicket of Sarfaraz Khan in that over and that of Matthew Short in the 15th. Both these deliveries swung. Early on in the 15th over, Malinga went for four off a thick outside edge from Shivam Dube, again thanks to old-ball swing. Malinga’s three overs with the old ball went for 19 and brought SRH two wickets. CSK eventually stopped ten runs short. Malinga guarded against predictability by bowling the odd short ball and slower ball.
Since the start of IPL 2025, among the 26 fast bowlers who have bowled 100 or more balls in the back-half of the innings, only Prasidh Krishna has a better average than Malinga’s 14.05. Only Jasprit Bumrah, Krishna, Marco Jansen and Pat Cummins have been more economical than his 9.14.
It is reasonable to say there is no surprise in the names that have done better than Malinga. Bumrah is considered the greatest white-ball bowler ever, Krishna has the height, Jansen has even more height, and Cummins is a Test and ODI great.
Among fast bowlers who have bowled at least 200 balls in the IPL since last year, only Anshul Kamboj has a better strike rate than Malinga, whose average is in the league of Josh Hazlewood, Krishna and Kamboj. Not bad for someone not even the first or best of his name.
Malinga is the best-kept secret at SRH. He is subtler, and certain to take the casual observer by surprise. Once Cummins comes back, the SRH matches in Hyderabad will be worth watching just for old-ball bowling.
