Mumbai Indians pacer Lasith Malinga is likely to be unavailable for the first few games of in the upcoming Indian Premier League due to personal reasons.
The Sri Lankan will not be travelling to the United Arab Emirates, where the T20 league will be played from September 19 to November 10, as his father is unwell and may require surgery in the coming weeks, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo.
The veteran fast bowler, who has produced match-winning efforts for both Sri Lanka and his IPL franchise, wants to be around his father while training in Colombo. He’s an important figure for him franchise and given the ball for the final over of last year’s IPL title clash against Chennai Super Kings, he defended eight runs to help Mumbai Indians register a record fourth triumph.
Malinga, who will turn 37 next week, last featured for Sri Lanka in a T20 International during the home series against West Indies in March this year, with his last ODI appearance coming more than a year ago.
Dogged by frequent knee injuries in recent times, the cricketer did not attend the residential conditioning camps that Sri Lanka Cricket organised in June and July. Malinga, who captained the Sri Lankan T20 World Cup winning side in 2014, has so far taken 170 wickets in 122 IPL matches at a fine average of 19.8 and an economy rate of 7.14.
With PTI Inputs