‘Don't know how many months or years left in me’: Malinga hints at retirement after World T20

Mirpur: Sri Lanka’s T20 captain and strike bowler Lasith Malinga has hinted that he might call time on his international career after the ICC World T20 in India as he is finding it difficult to manage a grave knee injury. At the post-match media conference, Malinga was asked if he would like to quit after the upcoming edition of World T20, just like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara did after winning the last edition, he replied: “Might be”. [caption id=“attachment_2644286” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Lasith Malinga. AFP[/caption] The Lankan slinger elaborated that his current injury is so bad that complete recuperation might take close to two years, which effectively ends his career now that he is nearly 33. “I have played 12 years for the national team. I am now 32 and will soon be 33. I have had a bad injury and if at this stage I have to take one or one and half years of rest, I would rather have to finish my career. If I need to play tough cricket for my country, I don’t think I can then totally recover from the injury. That’s why I am saying I don’t know how many months or years are left in me. Whatever little I play, I want to serve the national team and my IPL team (Mumbai Indians) well,” Malinga said. For Malinga, he is ready to play through pain for the national team as the defending champions need him in the big event. “This is not the right time to rest. We have the T20 World Cup and I am the most experienced bowler for Sri Lanka in this format. Whatever painkillers and injections that needs to be used, I will use as this is the end of my career. If I can do something for the team, I will do in these last few months may be. I am still only 60-70 per cent of where I want to be. But I am happy with the result against UAE though,” said Malinga, who led from the front with a four wicket haul in a low-scoring game. PTI