Sri Lanka veteran pacer Lasith Malinga has been cleared to play in the IPL by SLC despite the Sri Lanka Super Provincial tournament coinciding with the lucrative T20 tournament.
It was earlier announced that Malinga would stay in Sri Lanka to compete in the Super Provincial Tournament, missing as much as 6 IPL matches for Mumbai Indians.
Read More : Lasith Malinga chooses country over IPL
The IPL began on the 23rd of March and is scheduled to conclude earlier than usual giving players ample time to recover and train for the Cricket World Cup.
According to Cricinfo website, Mumbai Indians’ head coach Mahela Jayewardene had expressed his thoughts on Lasith Malinga’s situation after he decided to stay in Sri Lanka, “The tournament in Sri Lanka is for four or five days in April. So till that time there is availability and when we got in at the auction, Sri Lanka Cricket gave us his availability schedule, so obviously that tournament wasn’t a part of that. So there is a conversation to be made, once we get through that conversation, we will let you know what’s exactly happening.”
It seems SLC has softened their stance on the rule of players’ mandatory participation to get selected into the World Cup squad which is due to be announced before April 24th.
Read More : Malinga mulls retirement after T20 World Cup
“Earlier we had a doubt about him playing matches in the IPL. We thought he will play like last time one or two matches and he will be on the bench. We told the Indian Board that we will release him, but he has to play a substantial number of matches then only we can consider him for the World Cup. Unlike the last time, Malinga is also fit and he will play better cricket there under pressure with all the top players in the world. Mumbai Indians said that they are going to play him in about 7-8 matches out of the 14 or 15 but I think he will play more than that because Mumbai Indians’ key bowler Jasprit Bumrah is injured”, SLC president Shammi Silva is quoted as saying on the Daily News.
Read More : Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament
Further on Daily News, chief selector of Sri Lanka Men’s Cricket team, Asantha de Mel is quoted as he has confirmed Malinga’s spot in the World Cup squad. “We have no issues if he goes to IPL – the board had given him a no-objection certificate already, so he’s free to go, anyway he has been one of our best bowlers in one-dayers, so there’s no question about his place in the team. In any case, his World Cup place should not be under threat”
UPDATE – Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) later on the 26th of March confirmed their stance on this matter in a media release stating that they’ve decided to let Lasith Malinga play in the ongoing IPL tournament. They’ve decided to release Malinga from participating in the Super Provincial One Day Tournament since he would get an opportunity to play with much stronger opposition in the IPL, which consists of international players.
