Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga is 35 and believed to be past his use-by date as an international bowler.

He was overlooked for the T20 against South Africa this month despite being among the wickets in the recently concluded Global T20 League in Canada. There, playing for the Montreal Tigers, was the third-highest wicket taker with 13 scalps from six games.

However, Malinga has not been in the Sri Lankan scheme of things for some time. It has been a year since he played for Sri Lanka. He looked down on pace during the limited overs series against India at home in September last year, in which the hosts got whitewashed.

However there is growing support for his return to the national set-up.

A petition, started by Sri Lankan cricket enthusiast Daniel Alexander – addressed to the Sri Lankan President, Prime Minister, Sports Minister and the board – has gained some traction with the hashtag ‘BringBackMalinga’ getting support on social media.

As of now the petition has attracted only 200 signatures but the buzz it has created shows the second-most successful bowler in T20 history has quite a few supporters and with many believing Sri Lanka need his experience during the World Cup in England next year, and possibly even in the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE.