‘Malinga is the Michael Jordan of cricket’
The Nidahas Trophy will get underway with the match between India and the hosts—Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The tri-nation tournament that also involves Bangladesh will finish on March 18. A total of seven matches will be played in the competition, including the final.
Dinesh Chandimal will lead Sri Lanka in the absence of Angelo Mathews. Lasith Malinga was once again left out of the squad for the tri-nation series. The 34-year-old hasn’t featured in the team since September 2017. He was not a part of the team in their series against UAE, India, and Bangladesh.
However, Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurusingha thinks that Malinga is an icon for cricket. He also indicated that the Lankan quick still has a chance to return to the national side.
He said, "Lasith is a wonderful player - someone who has a global reputation, not just in Sri Lanka. I think he's an icon player for the game. Like in basketball they have Michael Jordan, and Malinga is that with cricket. In terms of form, he has done well in the recent past. I can't talk about what was talked about in the selectors' meeting, but I think he can contribute to Sri Lankan cricket in the future."
Although India have rested their key players like MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, and Hardik Pandya including their skipper Kohli, Hathurusingha kept India ahead of the other two team and opined that they a strong side irrespective of whoever is coming to play. Rohit Sharma will be leading the Men in Blue in the absence of Virat Kohli.
"If you go by the ratings, India is the number one team. So they always start ahead of the other teams. Whoever comes for India, they are still a very strong team. We have to start well because we haven't been doing well at home. With Bangladesh, because of the last series, we probably have a little edge over them mentally. But still, India is the number one team,” said the Lanka.
The hosts have quite a few options to open the batting in Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera, and Danushka Gunathilaka apart from Kusal Mendis. However, Mendis’ match-defining performance against Bangladesh recently will surely be taken into consideration.
The 49-year-old said, "Yes, we have a few openers. We will open with whoever we feel will play the best. We'll look at the other teams' strengths and limitations before coming to that decision also.”
According to the Lankan coach, Kusal’s mental state has been the biggest factor in his retrieval of form. After a series of bad performances in 2017, the opener did not play well in the tri-nation series as well. However, he mounted a comeback in the bilateral series against Bangladesh and helped Sri Lanka win the series.
“Kusal's mentality is really good these days," Hathurusingha said. "He knows his game and understands himself better. Our coaches have worked very closely with him and explained those things to him. He has clarity about what he does now. I think it's the mental state that's the biggest factor in his regaining form."
