Lasith Malinga says he does not fear any batsman

Mumbai Indians spearhead pacer Lasith Malinga has said that he does not fear any batsman in the world and only focuses on bowling to his strength.

“I don't fear any batsmen in the world whether it is Virender Sehwag or anyone else,” said the Sri Lanka pacer who is known for explosive round-arm action. “I only look to bowl to my own strength. I just bowl straight and try to mix variety with pace. I just back my ability and bowl as fast as I can.”

Malinga scripted the first five-wicket haul of the ongoing Indian Premier League against Delhi Daredevils and was adjudged Man of the Match for his sparkling bowling display.

Talking about his bowling strategy, the right-arm pacer said that he only thinks about bowling yorkers and short deliveries. Four of his five wickets against the Daredevils came through lethal toe-crushers.

The 27-year-old picked up rhythm when he sent the Daredevils opener David Warner and first-drop Unmukt Chand back to pavilion in three balls with vicious in-swinging yorkers.

The back-to-back blows left the burden on swashbuckling Sehwag, the captain of Delhi Daredevils, who seemed to be in ominous form after smashing his India teammate Harbhajan Singh for a huge six over the long off in the first over of the day.

However, Sehwag could add only 19 runs to the scorecard before being run out to a direct hit by Sachin Tendulkar. His 16-ball innings included a maiden over of Malinga.

Later Sehwag hailed Malinga for his exceptional bowling display and admitted that his inexperienced batting line-up failed to face the Lankan speedster.

“This is the first time in almost 10 years that I have played a maiden over. That tells you how good a bowler Malinga is,” said the Delhi skipper. “I knew the others in the side wouldn't be able to pick him (Malinga). That's why I tried to take lot of strike against him.”