Former stars name Malinga as greatest bowler of IPL

Sri Lanka and Mumbai Indians pace spearhead Lasith Malinga was rated as greatest bowler in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL) by his contemporaries, who are also commentators.

Malinga was bestowed the honour by Star Sports, commentators includes Kevin Pietersen, Dean Jones, Mathew Hayden, Aakash Chopra, Graeme Smith, Simon Doull, Ian Bishop and Tom Moody.

The Sri Lankan veteran, part of an elite 10-bowler nominee list, pipped the likes of Dale Steyn, Ashish Nehra, Sunil Narine and Jasprit Bumrah for the award.

Former England captain Pietersen backed his decision to choose Malinga for the coveted award.

"I'm going with Lasith. You look at the numbers he has served up and the way he has consistently used that yorker, that makes everyone talk about it. Malinga is my guy.

"I would go with Narine, but he has bowled on wickets which helped turn. Also, he has been questioned on a few occasions for this suspect bowling action, so I am afraid to say that I am going with Malinga," he said.

Malinga, the first Sri Lankan to claim four wickets in four deliveries, also beat Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Imran Tahir and Yuzvendra Chahal, who were also part of the nominee list.