Sri Lanka’s premium fast bowler Lasith Malinga has been ruled out of the tour of New Zealand on Thursday with a knee injury.
The 32-year-old, who has taken 291 wickets in 191 ODIs, has failed to recover from the injury he sustained against the West Indies last month.
Malinga is the latest to have been ruled out of the tour after Sri Lanka lost Test spearhead Dhammika Prasad during a warm-up game in Queenstown earlier this month.
New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said that Malinga has been Sri Lanka’s key fast bowler for a number of years and described his absence as a big loss for the tourists.
Meanwhile, Malinga, who was scheduled to lead his side in two tour-ending T20 internationals that followed the five-match ODI series, has been replaced by all-rounder Thisara Perera.
