Eshan Malinga has been having an impressive season for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2026.
In the IPL 2026 season, Eshan Malinga has taken 12 wickets in just seven matches at an economy rate of 9.43. He is playing an important role for the 2016 champions, who have now won four out of the seven matches they have played so far.
With several injuries and setbacks, pacers like Brydon Carse and David Payne have been ruled out of the tournament, which has hurt the SRH bowling attack. But bowlers like Eshan Malinga, who has led the pace attack so far (as Pat Cummins will return from the next match), have done a very good job for the team.
In the last two matches, Eshan took four wickets against Delhi Capitals and three wickets against Chennai Super Kings, with both matches ending in wins. Apart from going wicketless in only two matches this season, he has taken at least one wicket in every other game.
Eshan Malinga said in an interview with Cricbuzz that he feels these variations help him trouble batters and he tries to back his skills in every match.
“As a fast bowler, I think my biggest strength is the yoker, and reverse swing and the slow ball bouncer. I have a few variations and I’m backing my bowling with them. That’s my strength… and the fast bouncer,” Eshan said.
He is a type of bowler who can bowl in every phase of the game. He can swing the ball in the powerplay, bowl in the middle overs, and also get reverse swing because of his slingy action. His yorkers are very difficult for batters to face. He also has a fast bouncer in his armoury, with which he took the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the match against Chennai Super Kings.
Eshan also spoke about his practice routine.
“I bowl two-three overs to the batters in the nets and after that for the next two-three overs, only spot bowling. I put some boots around the pitch and bowl yorkers and practice my slower ones,” Eshan added.
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Before making his T20I debut, Eshan Malinga had not played any international T20 matches, but he had already gained attention for his death bowling skills and accurate yorkers. In IPL 2025, he played seven matches and took 13 wickets.
“Before I played IPL, I didn’t play many T20 matches. Just the one LPL and eight domestic T20 games. I didn’t have a lot of experience. Playing in the IPL gave me that strong mindset,” he says.
Following his IPL performances, he also made his debut in T20Is for Sri Lanka. So far, he has played eight T20 internationals and taken eight wickets. He was included in the T20 World Cup 2026 squad, but a shoulder dislocation ruled Eshan Malinga out of the tournament.
In the IPL overall, he has played 14 matches and taken 25 wickets to his name.
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