Sri Lanka skipper Lasith Malinga is all set to hang up his international cricket boots upon the culmination of the 2020 T20I World Cup in Australia.
The 35-year-old will lead the Sri Lanka squad in the upcoming ICC World Cup in England in what is set to be his final ODI appearance for the country. The veteran pacer has now expressed his desire to bow out from the international game post the completion of the 2020 T20 World Cup.
“After the (2019) World Cup, my cricketing career is ending. I want to play in the T20 World Cup and then end my career,” Malinga said after Sri Lanka’s loss in the second T20I against South Africa on Friday.
Malinga has so far played 30 Tests, 2018 ODIs and 72 T20Is for Sri Lanka ever since he made his international debut in 2004. The right-armed pacer has been an excellent servant for Sri Lanka in the ODI and T20 formats where he has picked up 322 and 97 wickets respectively.
Malinga is just three wickets away from a century of T20I dismissals.
Maliga’s dismissal of Proteas opener Reeza Hendricks on Friday was his 97th T20I dismissal and the Sri Lanka bowler is now only one wicket behind the format’s all-time leader Shahid Afridi (98) of Pakistan.
On Saturday, the Sri Lanka limited-overs skipper announced that he would be missing the first six IPL 2019 fixtures for Mumbai Indians to make himself for the domestic Super Provincial One-Day Cup.
The Sri Lankan domestic trophy runs from April 4 to April 11 and is set to play an important part in the national teams’ final squad selections for the 2019 World Cup.