Lasith Malinga sets sight to play beyond 2020 World Cup
Lasith Malinga feels that there are two more years of cricket left in him and he can go on and play beyond the 2020 T20 World Cup, where he will lead Sri Lanka. Malinga is enjoying a great run of form on a personal count, although the same can’t be said about the Sri Lankan cricket team.
After retiring from ODI cricket, Malinga has shown no signs of slowing down and is capable of blowing any batting unit to smithereens with his lethal pace and swing. He is the only man to 100 T20I wickets and took 5 for 6 in the third and final T20I against New Zealand - which included four wickets in four balls for the second time in his career. However, many count the T20 World Cup to be his last hurray at the international level, but hey, discount Malinga at your own peril.
" said for the World Cup I have to be lead there but you never know in Sri Lanka. 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,” Malinga told ESPNcricinfo.
"Sri Lanka are lacking that skillful bowler, they lack those consistencies. We can't get one year, one and a half years, all fixed, it might be that we need to get patience, maybe two or three years. Consistency is very important. I feel whoever is doing the next selection have to understand that people [to learn], they have to be there. If he's on the bench, nobody can learn. If I believe I can give something for the youngsters, then I need to be there. I can tell, but now I can show them 'this is the way how you do it.' But if I don't play then I can't do that."
Malinga is currently plying his trades for Maratha Arabaians in the Abu Dhabi T10 Challenge - a format that has given a new definition to bat vs ball contest. Malinga feels the format is more about improvisation on the go, otherwise, one would be found out sooner than later.
"We need skills on the spot, otherwise I don't think anyone can survive this game. This is the format, I feel, that tests the skill of all the bowlers,” he added.