National selection committee chairman Pramodya Wickramasinghe on Tuesday said veteran Sri Lankan fast-bowler Lasith Malinga could return to the national team for the T20 World Cup.
"We will talk to Lasith soon. He is in our plans for the forthcoming T20 tours, including the T20 World Cup coming up in October," said Wickramasinghe.
"We are working out a long-term plan aiming at the 2023 (50-over) World Cup. There, our main focus is to adjust ourselves to forming an accurate average in terms of two main aspects. Those are the age and the fitness," Wickramasinghe, a former Sri Lanka pace bowler, told Morning Sports.
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"Lasith is also in our plans. We always should not forget that he is one of the greatest bowlers in our country even in his present form. His records speak for that. There are two back-to-back T20 World Cups that are coming up, this year and next year. We are going to discuss our plans with him when we meet him in the next couple of days," said Wickramasinghe.
Ahead of the IPL 2021 auctions, Lasith Malinga (170 wickets in 122 IPL matches) had announced his retirement from ODI cricket. After this, Mumbai Indians decided to release the lucrative league's leading wicket-taker. Sri Lanka would need an experienced bowler like Malinga with back-to-back T20 World Cups scheduled in 2021 and 2022.
Malinga said he is "looking forward" to meeting the selectors. "I have retired from both Test and ODI cricket but not from T20s. I also am keen to know how the selection committee is going to get the services of a senior player like me for the national side. In my career, I have proved on many occasions that I can come back after a long break and perform well for my country," he said.