New Delhi: Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s fast-bowler will now be available for the Mumbai Indians for the entire period of April as Sri Lanka Cricket granted the paceman permission to skip the domestic Super Provincial Cup ODI tournament, which he was earlier expected to take part in.
“SLC decided to give permission to Lasith Malinga to play in the ongoing IPL. The management decided to release Malinga from participating in the Super Provincial; since he would get an opportunity to play with much stronger opposition in IPL; which consist of international players,” Sri Lanka Cricket posted on Twitter on Tuesday.
This decision by the SLC comes on the back of intervention from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), who wanted to ensure maximum availability of prominent overseas players in the IPL at least in the first half. However, Malinga is keen to participate in the domestic tournament, because as the captain of Sri Lanka’s limited-overs team, he wants to have a close look at some of the players that can feature in the World Cup squad for Sri Lanka.
Earlier, SLC had a different view on Malinga’s participation in the IPL as on March 22, the board stipulated that Malinga must play in the provincial ODI tournament in Sri Lanka in order to be considered for selection in the World Cup squad. Malinga will now join the Mumbai team and he is likely to be available for selection for their next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mumbai Indians takes on Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday, March 28 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
