CWC 2019: I will be scared to bowl against Hardik, says Malinga

What's the story?

The twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League has enhanced Hardik Pandya's reputation as a batsman many folds with his ability to come out and send the ball out of the park from the word go.

Also, his recent form with the bat has brought him a lot of praise for being a game changer and his Mumbai Indians teammate and Sri Lankan legend, Lasith Malinga, also shared his views on the former in a video posted by Mumbai Indians' official Twitter handle.

In case you didn't know...

Malinga and Pandya share a great camaraderie having played together for the Mumbai Indians for a number of years and the former has seen the evolution of the latter as India's best all-rounder of the current generation.

The heart of the matter

Pandya has been playing phenomenal cricket at the moment and has amassed 214 runs from 9 matches at an average of 43.60 coupled with an astonishing strike rate of 194.64. Also, with the ball in hand, he has provided essential breakthroughs for his side having scalped 8 wickets from the 9 matches.

Malinga, on the other hand, is making a comeback to the IPL as a player after being part of the MI squad as a mentor last year. He has picked up 8 wickets from the 5 matches he has played this year, albeit, at a very high economy rate of 9.10.

It was nice to see a legend of the game is so soft-spoken and humble while talking about his young teammate cum opponent and he said, "If I play world cup with him, I am very scared to bowl (against) him, because we know he is in really good touch."

"I am scared to bowl to @hardikpandya7 at the World Cup." - Lasith Malinga#OneFamily #CricketMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #MIvRCB #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/wMy3JGnh9S

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 16, 2019

What's next?

Once the IPL is over, both Pandya and Malinga will become rivals, trying to win the prestigious World Cup for their respective sides. While India commences its World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5. Sri Lanka will play its first match of the tournament against New Zealand on June 1.

India and Sri Lanka are scheduled to play each other on July 06, 2019 and it will be interesting to see how these two players perform against each other.