Lasith Malinga completed his 300 ODI wickets in Colombo during Sri Lanka’s match against India. (Source: AP)
Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga has said that he would decide on his future after the conclusion of this series against India. The right-handed fast bowler even went on to say that if he is not able to fulfill the team’s requirement, he won’t continue.
“I’m playing after 19 months following a leg injury. In the Zimbabwe and India series I couldn’t play well. I’ll see where I’m at after this series, and evaluate how long I can play given the way my body is. No matter how experienced I am – if I can’t win a match for the team and do what the team needs, there’s no point in me being here. I’ll see if I can make up for that 19 months and regain that form over the next 3 or four months,” Malinga said.
“I’ll see the number of games that I get. If not I’ll have to consider the state of my body, and what is expected of me. If I can’t deliver that, then I’ll happily retire.”
Talking about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s innings during the post-match conference, Malinga who led the side in the fourth ODI said that the Indian batsmen played “really” well for their hundreds.
“Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played really well. We didn’t consistently bowl a good line and length. I think on this kind of wicket our length is very crucial and we have to concentrate more on that. The first 30-40 runs Virat got very quickly,” Malinga said.
Malinga criticised Sri Lanka’s batting and their inability to score runs.
“Since the last match of the Zimbabwe series, we couldn’t be successful across batting, bowling and fielding in the same match. In that match we only got about 200 and since then we haven’t been able to pass 250. I think, personally, if we are playing at the international level, it’s when you get experience at that level that you understand how to handle difficult situations. ”
“A lot of our players are inexperienced at international level. I think if we gave some chances to the young players here, we will get players who can play for a long time. If we can give them experience to the team that goes to the 2019 World Cup, then you will have players who have played 30-50 ODIs,” he added.
