Sri Lanka’s T20I captain Lasith Malinga is ready to relinquish the role of the captain after the team’s disappointing series loss against India. The Island country was not able to put up a fight against the potent Indian side in the recently concluded series. The hosts had blown away Sri Lanka as they won the first match by seven wickets whereas smashed the visitors by a gargantuan margin of 78 runs in the second.
Malinga said the team was not up to the mark against India. The veteran of Sri Lankan cricket added that batsmen failed to put 170 runs on the board whereas the bowlers didn’t have the skills to defend the score. Thus, the Sri Lankan team lacked consistency in both the departments of the game.
Deep divisions within the team – Report.
Sri Lanka is placed at the ninth rank in the T20I rankings and their performance in the recent past has been disappointing. They were able to surprise Pakistan 3-0 but were whitewashed by Australia by the same margin.
Malinga added that he is ready to take responsibility for the poor show of the team in the Indian conditions.
“We don’t have that. I am ready at any time. I am ready to quit,” Lasith Malinga said.
Lasith Malinga is one of Sri Lanka’s finest and he is the most experienced player in the squad. Malinga had led Sri Lanka to glory in the 2014 T20 World Cup and had led the team till 2016.
On the other hand, Sri Lankan newspaper, The Island, Sunday Times has reported that Malinga requested the captaincy of the T20 side or had threatened to retire from the game. Ergo, the selectors were forced to give him the captaincy reins.
Furthermore, it is reported that Malinga has sidelined his predecessors. Angelo Mathews could not find the place in the first two T20Is albeit the first one was washed out.
The paper quoted, “Under Malinga’s leadership, there seems to be deep divisions in the side. As captain, he has also sidelined his predecessors such as Thisara Perera. Angelo Mathews was not played in the first two T-20s and was only given an opportunity in the last game”.
Sri Lanka will next host Zimbabwe for two Test matches.