COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday brought back Lasith Malinga after a long hiatus as captain of its limited-over squads to lead the national team against New Zealand.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the 35-year-old right-arm fast bowler was named skipper of a 17-man squad for three ODIs and one T20 starting on Jan 3.

Malinga led Sri Lanka to the T20 World Cup in 2014. But since captaining Sri Lanka against the UAE in February 2016, he has not led the national team. He had lost his captaincy as well as his place in the team after recurring injuries which forced him to sit out many tournaments.

However, he captained an ODI match against India in August last year.

The latest squad for the shorter forms of the game was ratified by President Maithripala Sirisena in the absence of a sports minister, SLC said.

Sri Lanka is effectively without a government since a disputed cabinet appointed by Sirisena was defeated in a no-confidence motion last month.

Squad:

Lasith Malinga (captain), Niroshan Dickwella (vice-captain), Angelo Mathews, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Asela Gunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Lakshan Sandakan, Seekkuge Prasanna, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2018