Lasith Malinga ready to quit captaincy after Sri Lanka’s T20I series failure against India

After Sri Lanka humiliated the then world number one Twenty-20 International (T20I) team Pakistan at their own den in October last year, there was a faint hope that the Sri Lankan cricket team could be on their way to reclaim the glory they have lost in recent times.

However, a T20I series defeat at the hands of Australia followed by Test series victory against Pakistan and another disappointing show against India in the shortest format have put the Sri Lankan cricketers’ responsibility under question.

Though it was a collective failure from the Lankan cricketers, their T20I captain Lasith Malinga seems to have taken the entire fault upon himself. Speaking after three-match series defeat against India, Malinga said the bowlers weren’t able to restrict the opposing sides to lower totals while the batsmen were incapable of putting up fighting scores on the board.

“I am ready to quit”: Lasith Malinga

“We don’t have that. I am ready any time. I am ready to quit,” said Malinga. The highest T20I wicket-taker for Sri Lanka also added that it was unfair to expect winning performances from the team under him as they were ranked ninth when he regained the reins of captaincy over a year ago.

Malinga’s return as the leader of Sri Lanka’s T20I squad sprang a few surprises given the fact that he had lost his place in the national team after suffering injuries which forced him to stay away from several tournaments. According to a report, there has been a division in the team under Malinga’s leadership and it is being believed that some senior players are not happy after the skipper excluded them.

“There seems to be deep divisions in the side. As captain, he has also sidelined his predecessors such as Thisara Perera. Angelo Mathews was not played in the first two T-20s (against India) and was only given an opportunity in the last game,” NDTV quoted a report of Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Island.

Sri Lanka were whitewashed by Australia in the three-match series in October and November last year. Recently against India, the islanders suffered a 2-0 defeat in the T20I series after the first match in Guwahati was abandoned.

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