Lasith Malinga to have ankle surgery in Australia; ruled out of action for 14 weeks

Lasith Malinga

Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga has flown to Australia to have a surgery on his troubled ankle, and it is expected that it will, consequently, rule him out of cricketing action for the next three-and-a-half months.

National selector Pramodya Wickramasinghe confirmed that Malinga, who has only been playing the shorter formats for Sri Lanka since 2010, will not be a part of the Island nation’s seven-match ODI series against England. Wickramasinghe is hoping, however, that Sri Lanka can have Malinga back for the final two ODIs in New Zealand in January leading up to the 50-over World Cup in February and March.

"We hope to play him in the last two ODIs in New Zealand on January 25 and 29 ahead of the World Cup", Wickramasinghe said.

With the World Cup now not too far away, the Angelo Mathews-led side will begin fine-tuning their ODI preparations in accordance with the challenges they expect to face during the one-and-a-half month long event. 

They will take on England at home starting November 26 and will, then, travel to New Zealand for a seven-match ODI series, which will end on January 29, before opening their World Cup campaign on February 14 against the same opposition at Christchurch.