Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga has added his name to the long list of cricketers who have given up playing test cricket because of injury woes surmounting. It is stated that a “long-standing degenerative condition in the right knee” has halted his dreams to play test cricket for Sri Lanka. He expressed his desire to continue to play fro Sri Lanka and hoped he would he a part of the bowling unit in the next year’s T20 World Cup and the 2015 World Cup.

Malinga is currently playing for the Mumbai Indians and is regarded as one of the game changers who could change the course of the game completely with his short one over spell whenever called for. When the Sri Lankan board was to select a team for the tour of England, he made himself unavailable for the test squad citing fitness reasons. He was asked to return back home and undergo rehabilitation program. However Malinga has now clarified that his condition stops him from playing only the longest format.

Although he was fit to play the shorter and the shortest formats, his long-standing degenerative condition in the right knee and forced him to take such a decision. The condition relates directly to the chronic knee injury he had sustained playing for Sri Lanka in Australia back in February 2008, an injury that prevented him from playing ODI cricket for 16 months. Malinga said he was available for all limited-overs internationals, and planned to travel to Sri Lanka soon to discuss his plans with the selectors.

He made his debut in July 2004 but has played only 30 Tests so far in career that has been threatened by injuries. His slingshot round-arm action and focus on pace might have inflicted a lot of strain on his body, and he was forced to miss several games. His career seemed to have stalled after the Galle Test against England in December 2007, but he returned for the series against India mid-2010. It was, however, a false dawn on his stop-start Test career.

He said that his decision was driven by the fact that his physiotherapist had said that his condition would deteriorate if he fields or bowls for prolonged periods. He also added he was so keen to return back to the test squad after three years but his non-cooperative knee left him mull over this decision for over two months.

Tags: 2015 World Cup, Cricket, Cricketer, Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka, T20 World Cup, Test Cricket