IPL 2016: Sri Lanka board sends showcause notice to Lasith Malinga for joining Mumbai Indians without NOC

Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has issued a show cause notice to Lasith Malinga after the pacer defied the board’s diktat by joining Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Indian Premier League without a medical clearance. Sources in the SLC have confirmed that Malinga has been asked to explain his conduct. [caption id=“attachment_2733604” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Lasith Malinga joined the Mumbai Indians squad and trained with them on Friday. BCCI[/caption] Despite the board not giving him permission to play in the IPL, the speedster reportedly joined the Mumbai Indians squad on Friday, and also took part in the team’s training session. Malinga and the new SLC hierarchy have been at a stand-off since the Asia Cup T20 in February. The board administration had asked Malinga to step down as captain of the team before the World T20 last month. And although he made it to the World T20 squad as a player, he opted out of the crucial tournament, citing fitness issues. As a result, Sri Lanka were forced to play the tournament without their main bowler, which turned out to be one of the main reasons for the defending champions’ ouster in the first round itself. SLC selection committee chairman Aravinda de Silva had said that he doubted Malinga’s fitness claims and also insisted that his fitness would be proved when he would take part in the ninth edition of the IPL. That had prompted Malinga to fire several media broadsides at the hierarchy, SLC sources claimed.