Sri Lanka T20I skipper Lasith Malinga is mulling extending his international career beyond the 2020 World Cup in Australia which gets underway in October next year.
The 36-year-old had previously suggested that the 2020 World Cup would be his last assignment in a Sri Lanka jersey but the veteran seems to have had a change of heart.
“Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said for the World Cup I have to be lead there but you never know in Sri Lanka,” Malinga told ESPNcricinfo in a recent interview.
“T20 is four overs and I feel with my skill, I can manage T20 as a bowler. As a captain, because I’ve played so many T20s around the world that I feel I can manage that period for maybe another two years.”
A veteran of 79 T20Is, Malinga’s international career seemed to be done at dusted at one stage after a spate of knee injuries before he was recalled to the Sri Lanka ODI side for the Asia Cup last year.
Since then, the right-armed pacer has been a constant in the Sri Lanka limited-overs outfits and was one of the side’s better performers in the 2019 ICC World Cup in England.
The experienced stalwart has so far picked up 106 T20I wickets and is the only bowler in the world to have breached the 100-wicket barrier in the format. Should he be elected as the skipper for the World Cup in Australia next year, Malinga will have to lead his men from the first round after Sri Lanka failed to gain an automatic qualification to the Super 12 stage.
