Sri Lanka coach Chandika Haturusingha has said that the doors are still open for Lasith Malinga for national selection given that meets the needs and criteria for the same. It has been almost a year since Malinga last represented Sri Lanka in an international encounter - a T20I at home against India last September - and his omission since then has been widely discussed.

“He has the same opportunity that any other cricketer has, to get into the team. If he plays in the domestic tournaments, like any other player the selectors will look at him as an option depending on the team’s requirement,” Hathurusingha said. 

Malinga was named in the Dambulla squad for the Super Provincial One-Day Tournament, but he stayed back with Mumbai Indians as a bowling mentor in the IPL. 

“The last six months we’ve seen a tremendous improvement in terms of injuries. We haven’t got any soft tissue injuries in the last four months. That’s a good sign for us, and that is down to training schedules are being managed,” Hathurusingha said. 

Meanwhile, the SL coach was happy with the preparations for the 2019 World Cup. However, he kept his doubts on his pace bowling department. 

The concern with (the fast) bowling is injuries and the selectors and I didn’t have a full squad to select in terms of bowlers because of injuries,” he said. 

“The spin department is still evolving and we hope we can look for different combinations. There are still places up for grab, but overall we know the plan we have and, barring injuries, how we want to play going forward.”