SOME ASIDES

8. Malinga, Mumbai’s all-season star

Lasith Malinga is a Mumbai Indians legend, so it wasn’t surprising that, when he was going through a lean patch fitness-wise last year, he became their bowling coach. This time, he wanted to play again, and when Malinga was picked up by Mumbai for his base price, it was expected that he would continue to play the bowling mentor’s role in the side while playing the occasional match. But injuries to Adam Milne and Alzarri Joseph, and the unavailability of Jason Behrendorff towards the back-end, pushed Malinga back into the spotlight. Although he was no longer the 140kph Slinga of the past, his skills with the slower ball, and the occasional yorker, continued to trouble batsmen both green and experienced. And in the final, despite being expensive early on, Malinga was up to the task of defending only eight runs in the last over to help Mumbai clinch their fourth IPL title.