COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday dropped veteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga from the national squad of 15 players for the upcoming three-match Twenty20 International series against India.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement that it has “rested” Malinga, who was part of the Bangladesh Premier League until earlier this month.

It is the second successive series for which the 34-year-old fast bowler has been overlooked. Malinga last played for Sri Lanka in the only T20 match against India last July and was dropped for the ODIs as well as T20 games against Pakistan played in the UAE.

Malinga was also not considered for the current ODI series in India.

The omission may be a sign that the Sri Lankan cricket authorities are looking beyond Malinga, who has been a match winner for his team since making his debut 13 years ago.

Malinga made his international debut in 2004 in a Test match against Australia and with his round-arm slinging action and pinpoint yorkers, established himself as one of the most feared bowlers in international cricket.

Frequent injuries meant he cut short his Test career with 101 wickets and concentrated on shorter formats and he has been a first-choice fast bowler for Mumbai Indians in the IPL as well as several other T20 franchises around the world.

He has captured 301 and 90 wickets in ODIs and T20 Internationals, respectively.

The team, led by Thisara Perera, will play three T20 matches against India starting Dec 20.

The squad includes three fast bowlers in Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep and Vishwa Fernando.

Squad:

Thisara Perera (captain), Upul Tharanga Angelo Mathews Kusal Perera Danushka Gunathilaka, Niroshan Dickwella, Asela Gunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka, Chaturanga de Silva, Sachith Pathirana, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep and Vishwa Fernando.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2017