Lasith Malinga To Retire From ODIs After 1st Game Against Bangladesh

With 335 wickets in 225 ODIs, Malinga is Sri Lanka's third-highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket after Muttiah Muralitharan (523) and Chaminda Vaas (399)

Veteran Sri Lanka speedster Lasith Malinga will retire from one-day international cricket after the first ODI of the three-match series against Bangladesh, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said here on Monday. Karunaratne said the 36-year-old former captain would only take part in the first match to be played here on July 26. “He is going to play the first match. After that, he will retire. That's what he told me. I don't know what he told the selectors, but he told me that he would play only one match,” Karunaratne said. His last outing at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo will also give him the opportunity to claim his wickets tally at the venue to 50 if he picks a single wicket in the game. Malinga was initially named in the 22-man Sri Lanka squad for the series. The matches will be played on July 26, July 28 and July 31 at the R. Premadasa Stadium here. With 335 wickets in 225 ODIs, Malinga is Sri Lanka's third-highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket after Muttiah Muralitharan (523) and Chaminda Vaas (399). He also had a decent outing in the recently concluded World Cup. The Lankans didn’t make into the semis but Malinga continued delivering on the field. His 4 for 43 against England was one of his finest spells that left England stunned in a low-scoring chase.