Pushed into a corner by the Sri Lankan board over his participation in the lucrative IPL, speedster Lasith Malinga announced a sudden retirement from Test cricket on Friday. He
blamed a “longstanding degenerative knee injury” but the decision was clearly prompted by comments made by a section of the Sri Lankan cricket administration regarding his participation in IPL games while declaring himself unfit for the country’s Test tour of England.Malinga has been in roaring form in the IPL, where he is the leading wicket-taker for the Mumbai Indians – a fact not lost on the Sri Lanka Cricket selection committee. The SLC wanted him back for rehabilitation but Friday’s decision implies the pacer will now be available for the entire IPL-4 season. His retirement sets a disturbing precedent of players with chronic injury problems being tempted by softer options of playing only ODIs or cash-rich T20 leagues instead of resting and rehabilitating for the grind of the five-day format.
The announcement is meant to end the bad blood between Malinga and SLC mandarins who had accused him of choosing club over country. Though a statement by SLC that it was unaware of the fast bowler’s decision added to the intrigue, Lankan sports minister Mahidananda Aluthgamage told TOI that there was “no problem” if Malinga now continued to play IPL.
“Since Malinga is not going to play Test cricket, he can continue to play in the IPL. If he wishes to stay longer in India and fulfill his IPL commitments, we don’t have any problem. But the other cricketers who are in the Test team will have to report back for the May 19 practice match in England,” Aluthgamage said from Colombo.
Malinga’s statement repeatedly stressed that his injury would prevent him from playing in Tests only. “The injury was a career-threatening one and my orthopaedic surgeon was of the opinion that given his experience with other professional athletes in Australia I was fortunate to play again. I have since been advised that my condition will deteriorate when fielding or bowling for prolonged periods,” the statement read.
Earlier, Sri Lanka’s new chairman of selectors Duleep Mendis had said, “It looks awkward when someone says he is injured and continues to play cricket. That is the reason why we have decided to ask him to return home and undergo a rehabilitation programme.”
Clearly, those moves have now come a cropper. In his statement, Malinga said, “Although I am sufficiently fit to play both ODI and T20 cricket, I have a long-standing degenerative condition in my right knee that needs to be carefully managed. The condition relates directly to the chronic knee injury I sustained playing for Sri Lanka in Australia back in February 2008, an injury that prevented me from playing ODI cricket for 16 months.” Malinga has played only two Tests since that injury.
The fact that Malinga won’t wear whites again will come as a relief to batsmen the world over. He played 30 Tests and bagged 101 wickets at 33.15, with three five-wicket hauls.
