IND vs SL | Sri Lanka to take advantage of Jasprit Bumrah’s condition, claims Lasith Malinga

01/05/2020

Sri Lanka’s T20I captain Lasith Malinga is confident that India’s ace paceman Jasprit Bumrah’s rustiness would help the visiting team’s cause. Malinga also conceded that even though he can help his side with details about his MI teammate, it will be the batsmen who will have to read the pacer.

With the three-match T20I series, starting on Sunday January 5, Jasprit Bumrah will be back into the mix after four-months of being sidelined due to injury. Aware of his out-of-practice rustiness, Malinga is sure that his team could squeeze out some advantage from it. On the eve of the series opener in Guwahati, Malinga said the Lankan batsmen would try to unsettle Bumrah. However, Malinga lauded his Mumbai Indians teammate for being world-class.

“He's the number one bowler in the world. He has got skills and accuracy. But he is coming after an injury and didn’t play much cricket in the past few months. Most of the bowlers struggle to get their rhythm for the first few matches (after making a comeback). We want to get that advantage to us,” Malinga was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

“I'm really happy for Bumrah, he is doing well for his country. He's my teammate. He's their wicket-taking bowler. I can pass on the information about his attitude and bowling skills. But our batsmen will have to be smart enough to handle him," said the 36-year-old.

Sri Lanka have some talented youngsters who were short on experience but the India tour will help them grow. Also, the captain is not worried about the situation that went down in Assam after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) stir and said that the team is here only to play cricket.

“We were not scared about that. We have come here to play cricket. I don’t think it's a worry. People love cricket here,” he added.

The first T20I will take place at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara, on Sunday.