Malinga may not play Sri Lanka's first game. © Getty
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews stated that strike bowler, Lasith Malinga is a doubtful starter for their opening game against Afghanistan on Thursday (March 17). Malinga, who has been missing from action since he sustained a knee injury in the Asia Cup T20, 2016, joined the rest of the squad only on Tuesday (March 14) and is short on match practice.
Mathews further added that they will get to know about Malinga's availability only after he bowls at full tilt in the nets just before their game against Afghanistan. "We are yet to get yes or no from physio," Mathews said. "Malinga will have a net session tomorrow. We will test his bowling tomorrow and need to wait. He bowled a couple of overs with a short run-up. He will bowl with his full run-up tomorrow and we will take a call."
As a result of his slow recovery from a persistent knee problem, Malinga handed over the reins of captaining Sri Lanka's Twenty20 International (T20I) side to the One-Day International (ODI) and Test skipper Mathews just before the start of the World T20. In fact, Malinga has been undergoing rehabilitation for his knee injury since the end of last year and has taken part in just five out of Sri Lanka's last 13 T20Is.
He came back to lead the Sri Lankan side for the Asia Cup but suffered a recurrence of his knee injury during the game against UAE and missed the rest of the tournament. The ace pacer has even said that he might retire from the game after the World T20.
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