Knee injury puts veteran speedster in doubt for showdowns against England and Australia
Malinga knee ailment a 'substantial injury'
Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga is set to spend an extended period on the sidelines, putting the veteran speedster in doubt for upcoming series against England and Australia.
Malinga was ruled out of the Indian Premier League season with a knee injury on Monday, with Sri Lanka Cricket doctors now confirming a "substantial injury" to his left knee.
While the 32-year-old will not have to undergo surgery for the ailment, the SLC medical team said the injury would instead require rest and periodic reassessment.
"Malinga is suffering from a stress reaction in the knee," SLC medical committee chairman Dr Harindu Wijesinghe said.
"This has been caused by pressure being put on the knee. There is a chance that a stress reaction could worsen to a stress fracture, at which point he would need surgery."
"A few doctors have been advising Malinga, and we feel that he needs to rest his knee, while undergoing physiotherapy and strengthening.
"Only after seeing how he the injury reacts to this, will we be able to say how long he might be unavailable.
"It might be a number of months before we decide to scan and test him again. It's difficult to put a time frame on his recovery."
Malinga suffered a bone bruise to his left knee in November during Sri Lanka's tour of the West Indies.
Since then the 32-year-old has played only one competitive match, a T20 international against the UAE in February's Asia Cup where he claimed 4-26 from four overs as captain.
But the chronic knee problem never abated, and he was forced to relinquish the national captaincy on the eve of the World T20before flying home from the tournament early when he re-injured the troublesome joint in a warm-up match against Afghanistan.
It is unclear how long Malinga will spend on the sidelines, but it seems the injury will likely rule the speedster out of Sri Lanka’s forthcoming tour of England, which begins in June.
Sri Lanka are then due to host Australia in ODI and T20 series in August.
The champion fast bowler has taken 470 wickets for Sri Lanka in his 12-year career, and played a key role in guiding his country to the 2014 World T20 title in Bangladesh.