Sri Lanka sweat on Lasith Malinga’s fitness..

Sri Lanka were left to sweat on the fitness of their prime one-day fast bowler Lasith Malinga who is due to undergo a fitness test for a knee injury on Boxing Day, the day the five-match one-day international series against New Zealand commences at Christchurch.

“Malinga was originally expected to undergo the test on December 23 but it was postponed by three days on the advice of his doctors,” said chief selector Kapila Wijegunawardene.

Malinga who is struggling to be fit from a bone related injury to his left knee which he sustained during the ODI series against West Indies in October-November is being attended to by consultant physician Dr Arjuna de Silva and consultant rheumatologist Dr Harindu Wijesinghe in consultation with orthopaedic surgeon Dr David Young in Australia.

“Lasith’s injury is not a serious one but he is experiencing some pain. We as selectors have the utmost confidence that he will come through the test and be available for at least the second half of the ODI series,” said Wijegunawardene.

“We know Lasith is a tough character and he has managed himself well in the past even with injuries. However we will not push him too much. We will take a cautious approach as we will need him for the important tournaments ahead like the Asia Cup and the World T20,” he said.

Malinga is the captain of the Sri Lanka T20 side that won the World T20 held in Bangladesh last year and will defend their title in India in March.

Fast bowling all-rounder Thisara Perera has been flown to New Zealand as Malinga’s replacement while Nuwan Kulasekara has taken the place of injured Dhammika Prasad and Kithuruwan Vithanage drafted into the ODI side for Kusal Perera.