Mumbai Indians have suffered a major blow as veteran pacer Lasith Malinga has made himself unavailable for at least the first six matches of the upcoming 12th edition of the Indian Premier League, according to a report on ESPNCricinfo.
Malinga has ruled himself out as he will be participating in Sri Lanka’s Super Provincial One-Day domestic tournament, which runs from April 4 to April 11.
The 35-year-old was keen to start the IPL 2019 season with Mumbai Indians but has been compelled to skip the first three weeks. Sri Lanka’s selectors have reportedly stated that they won’t consider players for the World Cup if they don’t participate in the domestic one-day tournament, in which Malinga is due to captain the Galle team.
Malinga, who is the captain of Sri Lanka’s One-Day International and Twenty20 International teams, has now offered the Mumbai Indians, who paid Rs 2 crore for his services, to replace him since he won’t be available for such a large part of IPL 2019.
“I had asked the [Sri Lanka] board for a No-Objection Certificate for me to play in the IPL, and they had said that was fine, but that all players who want to go to the World Cup would need to stay back for the provincial tournament,” Malinga was quoted as saying by the website.
“So I told them I’d play in the provincial tournament, and I asked the board to inform Mumbai Indians and IPL, since it was their decision. I’m okay with losing those earnings from IPL. I’m doing it for the country.”
Malinga is currently competing in a three-match T20I series in South Africa where his team trails 1-0 and will return to Sri Lanka on March 26.