IPL 2019: Lasith Malinga captains Galle in Sri Lanka 10 hours after leading Mumbai Indians to win

Ajit Vijaykumar 11:43 04/04/2019
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  • Lasith Malinga. Image: BCCI/SPORTZPICS.

    Sri Lankan pace ace Lasith Malinga is a man on a mission. The veteran quick had been in a bit of a quandary with regards to playing the entire IPL season since it was clashing with the domestic one-day tournament in Sri Lanka which he was supposed to feature in in order to be considered for World Cup selection.

    Then in a change of heart, the Sri Lankan board allowed the veteran pacer to play the entire IPL as they wanted the ODI skipper to test himself in a tougher competition. Malinga thus played the first three games for Mumbai Indians, putting in a match-winning effort of 3-34 against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai on Wednesday.

    But less than 12 hours after competing the match in India, Malinga was in Sri Lanka leading the Galle side in the Super Four Provincial Limited Over Tournament. Malinga had decided to play in the tournament in Kandy after all as he deemed it was necessary for his World Cup captaincy candidature, according to reports.

    The match in Mumbai finished at 11:45 pm on Wednesday night. Malinga then flew straight to Kandy – where the domestic tournament is being held – to lead Galle for the match that started at 9:45 am. Luckily for Malinga, he did not have to bowl first up on Thursday.

    Earlier, favourite Dimuth Karunaratne had landed himself in trouble following a case of drink-driving. That opened the World Cup captaincy spot once again and Malinga could well lead the side at the showpiece event. He is captaining Galle in the tournament that runs from April 4-11. That means he could miss the next two games for Mumbai Indians if Galle reach the final.

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