Sri Lanka’s middle-order batsman Mehela Jayawardene has come out in support of fellow teammate Lasith Malinga's decision to quit Test cricket.
Earlier this week the pacer Malinga announced that he will not be playing in the longest version of the game.
Jayawardene while talking on the matter, stated that the phenomenal pacer took the right decision and it will help him prolong his cricket career.
“In order to extend his career he has to quit test cricket. In fact his target is the next world cup in 2015 and by bidding adieu to tests he has prolonged his career in shorter version of the game.” Jayawardene said.
According to insiders, Malinga has been carrying a knee injury and in order to save himself from doing more damage to his knee, the slingy pacer decided to bid farewell to five-day cricket.
Jayawardene reiterated that in today’s cricket the pacers have to face the brunt of hectic schedules which shortens their cricket career.
Malinga is currently the number one strike bowler for Sri Lanka and the Lankans will want him to play for as long as he can, for which it is imperative for Malinga to cut down his workload.
Earlier there were rumours in the media that Malinga had taken the decision to retire from Test cricket after he was criticized by certain sections in Sri Lanka Cricket, alleging that the player had opted to play the IPL (Indian Premier League) instead of representing the country.
However, Jayawardene brushed aside such rumours and insisted that the bowler had only taken the decision keeping his future in front of him.
The former vice-captain said that Malinga was prone to injury and during his time of captaincy he always had to calculate the amount of workload on the bowler to make sure that he would remain fit nonetheless, even after such a cautious approach he suffered prolonged injuries in the past.
“He had worked hard and made a fine comeback and is performing brilliantly. He has realised that he can't sustain that huge work load and perhaps has prolonged his career. I am very happy for him," said the Kochi Tuskers Kerala skipper, Jayawardene.
Slinga Malinga as he is knick-named sometimes made his test debut for Sri Lanka in July 1, 2004 against Australia, while in the same month he played his first ever One Day International for his home side against the United Arab Emirates.
So far in 30 Test games he has taken 101 wickets while in one-days he has played 77 games and taken 114 wickets.
Malinga has been equally devastating in the shortest version of the game, the Twenty20, where he has played in 29 games taking 35 wickets.
Considering his current form, he will surely be an asset for Sri Lanka in the next world cup which is scheduled to be played in New Zealand and Australia in 2015.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment