Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga continues to flip-flop as far as his participation in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) is concerned. He joined the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad after their first game and will now be heading home on Wednesday to feature in the Super Provincial One Day Tournament.
Therefore, the 35-year-old will skip a few more games for his franchise. “Yes, Malinga will be reaching Sri Lanka tomorrow and will be available for the provincial tournament,” Sri Lanka’s chief national selector Ashantha de Mel was quoted as saying to Sportstar.
At the beginning of the IPL 2019, it was reported that Malinga would skip the first six matches for the Mumbai Indians to play in the domestic tournament. Last week, after a meeting with Malinga in Colombo, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) allowed him to feature in the IPL, stating that the “level of competition would be higher and help him prepare better for the big event.”
Mel also confirmed that it was Malinga who changed his mind. “He wanted to play the provincial tournament. Last week, we had agreed to release him for the entire IPL, but now he wants to play in this tournament,” he said.
Meanwhile, MI will host the arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Match 15 of the IPL 2019 at the Wankhede. At the moment, the home team’s bowling seems to be their weak forte. With Malinga going back home, they will now strengthen this department by bringing in the left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff.
After the conclusion of the UAE tour, the Australian speedster has finally arrived in India and is all set to participate in the marquee T20 league.
Behrendorff was recently seen in a video posted by the MI Paltan on Twitter wherein he announced his arrival in Mumbai.
"Duniya hila denge!" 👊🏻
Welcome to #OneFamily, @JDorff5 💙#CricketMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/TeoYwytubC
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 1, 2019
