I will announce when I am ready to throw in the towel – Malinga
Selector, selector, Why have you forsaken me? - Pic by Amila Gamage
Goldilocks of Sri Lankan cricket, Lasith Malinga is wondering why he keeps missing the bus. He finally admits his outspoken personality and straightforwardness may have hurt his chances of coming back to the national side despite having done enough to warrant an automatic place in the shorter version of the game, T20.
In April, Malinga was summoned to the country—with the choice of leaving his franchise duty as a bowling mentor for Mumbai Indians—on the chance he could be selected for the South African series. But he snubbed the call.
“Before I left for India, I had to take a no objection letter from Sri Lanka Cricket,” he said. “They gave it to me and, based on that, I entered into a contract to work through the full series. So when they suddenly asked me to return, I couldn’t oblige as I have given an undertaking to sit for the whole series.”
Malinga remains country’s highest wicket-taker in the T20 format in 2017, since returning to the side after a long injury lay-off. But that hasn’t impressed the selectors sufficiently to recall the 34-year-old to the national side.
“My performance illustrates that I am on track but I doubt it will have an impact anymore,” said Malinga, who has been left in the lurch by cricket authorities for reasons best known to them.
“I feel there is more to this.” he reflected. “If selections are based purely on merit, I should be the first choice seamer for the T20s but it does not seem the only yardstick anymore.”
Malinga believes his criticism of pitch curators last year is playing a bigger role in his non-selection to the national side. At a brainstorming session organised by the Ministry of Sports after a complete rout by Indians across formats last year, Malinga took the bull by the horn, openly criticising cricket officials. He was particularly biting of the way in which wickets are prepared against the wishes of the home team, breeding suspicions about a possible pitch-fixing syndicate.
In addition to issues with pitches, Malinga also highlighted selection and the need to revamp domestic cricket structures to produce cricketers that fit into the international game.
“I wonder if this is behind my axing,” he said. “I have not played a single game since that incident and not got any explanation.”
“If you look at my career, I have played the game with a straight bat–on or off the field,” he continued. “I believe this has boomeranged on my career. My personality is different and I have always stood for the right thing. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea”.
Malinga’s last international stint was against India at home in 2017–one that the visitors convincingly dominated, winning all three series – the Tests, the ODIs and the T-20s — convincingly.
“Long before Al Jazeera highlighted a possible pitch-fixing issue, I brought this up to the notice of administrators,” he said. “Without investigating it, they killed the messenger by leaving me out of the national team.”
His omission from the 50-over side is no surprise as he has averaged staggering 62.30 on his return in 2017. But his T20 exploits warrant him an automatic place. Last year, he was Sri Lanka’s best T20 wicket-taker, capturing 12 scalps in 6 matches at 16.50 including a best of 3 for 34.
More recently, Malinga became the third highest wicket-taker in the Global T20 tournament played in Canada where he claimed 13 scalps at an economy of 6.42 for Montreal Tigers; a performance he thinks is good enough for a recall to the national side.
“True, I have spoken of a retirement several times,” he said. “But truly I do not want to retire at this point in time. It was more due to frustration…frustration over being ignored without explanation.”
“My strength is my performance,” Malinga said. “I have 301 ODI wickets, 101 Tests wickets and 90 T20 international wickets. I took them all by playing for my country with passion and dedication. I have proved myself time and again and to be in this state is not something I expected. I am only asking for an opportunity to prove myself. If I fail, then they can drop me and I will decide my future but I am not ready to throw in the towel when I know I still have cricket left in me”.
During a conversation with the selectors few months ago, Malinga was made to understand that only those playing in ODI cricket would be considered for T20 selections. “How can anyone assess my performance without giving me an opportunity?” he asked. “I have not played a 50-over match since September last year.”
He had expected a recall to the limited-over side to face South Africa in the five match series following his outing with the Montreal Tigers in the Global T20 league in Canada.
“I was actually hoping for a place in the ODI side,” he said. “But not only did they not name me in the squad, they didn’t even give me a place in the warm-up match. I hope they will pick me at least for the T20 game against South Africa.”
Malinga is currently the second highest wicket taker in T20 cricket with 348 wickets, second only to DJ Bravo with 434 wickets. He was also one of the Mumbai Indians’ most iconic players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for ten years since 2007, before he was released for the auction this year.
“I was not surprised at their decision not to retain me,” he admitted. “They wanted to create a good team for the next three years. But I was not selected not because my performance was bad but because of their long term strategy which I understand very well.”
Malinga has kept himself busy during his forced break from international cricket. He was in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) last year. He also played a three-day match for his domestic club NCC, was bowling mentor for the Mumbai Indians, played for Montreal Tigers and has regularly practised in anticipation of a call.