Sri Lanka T20 captain Lasith Malinga has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he will be not be playing the Inaugural Lanka Premier League T20 tournament.
Malinga had not played a competitive match since March, and said that the lack of cricket and training this year had prompted his decision to withdraw.
“Since the West Indies series early this year, I haven’t had any cricket, and there hasn’t been any training for me at all,” Malinga told ESPNcricinfo. “When the draft happened last month, I thought there would be about three weeks of training before the LPL, but there has been nothing. They are only having us come to Hambantota this week, and even there they are asking us to do three days of quarantine.
“It’s not easy for a bowler to play at a high level without training. At the LPL they also have matches on back-to-back days. So I decided not to play the tournament.” he said.