Lasith Malinga eyes Sri Lanka role beyond T20 World Cup

The seamer will be 37 by the time of next year's showcase in Australia but feels he still has plenty to give in international cricket

Sri Lanka veteran Lasith Malinga has hinted he has no plans to end his international career directly following next year's T20 World Cup in Australia.

Malinga will be 37 by the time the 2020 showcase Down Under begins but is not yet ready to step aside, despite having already retired from one-day internationals.

With 106 T20I wickets and over 350 outings in domestic and international 20-over matches, the Galle native will go down as one of the premier bowlers in the format.

He took on the captaincy for the series against New Zealand and though he skipped the tour of Pakistan over security concerns he was reinstated as skipper for the games against Australia.

The 3-0 series win in Pakistan, in which Sri Lanka were without a handful of senior players, gave opportunities to the likes of Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara to stake a claim for a permanent place in the bowling department.

But Malinga, who is currently playing in the ongoing T10 League in Abu Dhabi, feels those youngsters could benefit from his continued involvement.

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"[SLC] said for the World Cup I have to be lead there but you never know in Sri Lanka," Malinga told ESPNcricinfo. 

"T20 is four overs and I feel with my skill, I can manage T20 as a bowler. As a captain, because I've played so many T20s around the world that I feel I can manage that period for maybe another two years.

"Sri Lanka are lacking that skillful bowler, they lack those consistencies. We can't get one year, one and a half years, all fixed, it might be that we need to get patience, maybe two or three years.

"Consistency is very important. I feel whoever is doing the next selection have to understand that [for] people [to learn], they have to be there. If he's on the bench, nobody can learn.

"If I believe I can give something for the youngsters, then I need to be there. I can tell, but now I can show them 'this is the way how you do it.' But if I don't play then I can't do that."

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