Oldest slinger in town: Sri Lanka to farewell shaggy-haired Malinga

Sri Lanka will start looking to replace key wicket-taker Lasith Malinga when the shaggy-haired fast bowler calls it quits after the first one-day international against Bangladesh on Friday.

Both teams go into the three-game series nursing a World Cup hangover, with Sri Lanka facing an especially tough rebuilding task with the loss of the instantly recognisable Malinga.

The blond-highlighted bowler with the distinctive sling action proved his enduring worth when he tormented England during the World Cup, taking four for 43 as Sri Lanka stunned the eventual champions in the group stage.

Malinga, 35, is Sri Lanka's third-highest ODI wicket-taker with 335 wickets from 225 matches, behind only Chaminda Vaas (399) and Muttiah Muralitharan (523). Malinga needs three wickets to overhaul Anil Kumble's 337 for ninth place on the international list.

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne said finding a replacement for Malinga, who is retiring from one-day internationals, is just one of many challenges ahead following a disappointing World Cup.

"I think if you take the World Cup, we did fairly good. In patches we did really well and sometimes we didn't do very well," he said.

"We know we need to find a wicket-taking bowler because Lasith Malinga is not available after this series.

"We need to find the bowlers who can take wickets in the middle part and the early overs. Those are the areas. I need some good youngsters, we need to groom some youngsters for the next World Cup," he said.

- Coaching exodus -
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