Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain Lasith Malinga believes he is not doing enough to inspire the team.
The pacer blamed his poor display – one for 46 in four overs – for Sri Lanka’s 29-run defeat against Pakistan in the first Twenty20 game Colombo on Thursday.
The 31-year-old has struggled with his pace and discipline since his ankle surgery last year and claimed four wickets at an average of over 60 in the four one-dayers against Pakistan which Sri Lanka lost 3-2. He was dropped for the fifth ODI at Hambantota which Sri Lanka won by 165 runs.
In a stinging self-assessment after the defeat on Thursday, Malinga believes he needs to come up with a better show in the second and final T20 game on Saturday.
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“I didn’t bowl very well. If I’m an experienced bowler in Twenty20s, I didn’t do much for the team,” he said. “The others are all young bowlers and they’re all learning. I have to do better than that if we want to win the match.”
“I am not really consistent. If I can consistently bowl the lengths that I want to bowl, I can manage my four overs. But at the moment I’m struggling with that.”
Sri Lanka need to level the scores if they are to deny Pakistan a clean sweep of the Test, one-day and Twenty20 series victories.