Sri Lanka Head Coach Nic Pothas and Indian skipper Virat Kohli both have publicly backed the aging, underperforming seamer Lasith Malinga.

Pothas stated that 9 catches off Malinga’s bowling have been dropped this year and has taken only 7 wickets since returning to the ODI team during the Champions Trophy. He played his 200th ODI in Dambulla and will look to add two more wickets to his tally to enter the 300-Wicket club.

“We lost some giants of the game in the recent past and leaders within the change room. Malinga is a leader in the change room we don’t look at him purely what he can do with the ball also look at what he does for the young bowlers and we have got a young mob of them. Lasith is a very valuable player for us within that change room. Stats may show that he has not performed like the Lasith of three years ago, but what he does add in value is immeasurable. Pothas said at the pre-match press conference held before the 2nd ODI.

Despite his poor run, 33-year old Malinga has been one of the finest ever cricketing talents ever to play Sri Lanka, especially in limited-overs cricket. Malinga, the only bowler in ODI history to take four wickets in a row, versus South Africa in the 2007 World Cup.

“When you look his bowling action and the kind of success he has had for such a long period of time is actually remarkable. With the dynamics of his bowling, it’s not very natural. What he has been able to achieve for Sri Lanka has been outstanding. That’s why they have been such a dangerous side over the last few years in limited overs format. Even when he played Test cricket, he made an impact. It’s very easy to say that he is not bowling as well anymore but it could just be a phase. Once he starts hitting those yorkers again, those slower balls again, and picks up wickets on a regular basis then these talks can be otherwise also. I can’t talk about his body, only he would know. But as long as we play him we obviously respect his skills and what he can bring to the table and how he can turn the game around. We always play him like that, we have always played him like that and we’ll continue to play him like that till he plays for Sri Lanka.Kohli stated.

Since 2009, Malinga and Kohli have been involved in 22 matches and the current Indian captain has only been dismissed once by the Lankan fast-bowler in ODI cricket. Kohli’s rise to prominence during the early parts of this decade has mainly been against Sri Lanka. He averages nearly 80 against Sri Lanka in 21 matches, the most he has batted second in his career despite his overall batting second average being 66.

“He has been a legend for Sri Lankan cricket and he has done great in international cricket in all formats. He is a bit old now and with time I feel that his pace has gone down and that’s why we can attack more as batsmen. This is natural because he has played so much cricket. It’s just a cycle, life cycle.” Shikhar Dhawan said about Malinga’s decline after the 1st ODI.