Veteran Sri Lankan cricketer Lasith Malinga has lacked proper cricket practice for around a year now. He had earlier pulled out of the cash-rich IPL season in the UAE due to 'personal reasons'.

He was expected to play for the Galle Gladiators in the inaugural edition of the Lankan Premier League (LPL). However, he pulled out of the home tournament too. He received a lot of criticism for not playing cricket in Sri Lanka.

The 37-year-old pacer has answered his critics quite well giving out a proper explanation on why he doesn't want to play in the tournament at the moment. He cited the lack of practice as the biggest reason for not playing in the LPL.

Lasith Malinga told Newswire, "Some will wonder why lack of preparation is a problem for someone who has played so much cricket. You can’t do this by just preparing in your gym at home."

"Before I bowl a yorker in a match, I practice bowling that delivery about a thousand times. It is not something that happens by accident," he added.

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The pacer has quite a slingy arm and has always maintained that a lot of practice is always required to execute the yorkers with pinpoint accuracy. It is even tougher to do so with a 'not so straight' action. Malinga also believes that if he fails to deliver the yorkers in LPL, he will be criticized yet again.

"If I fail to bowl yorkers in the LPL, people will say you can bowl yorkers in the IPL and not in the LPL," the Sri Lankan said.

He further stated that he is happy with the fact his fans know how much Malinga has done for the country and they are proud of him.

"No matter what you achieve, sometimes you have to take the criticism too. The world knows what I have done for my country. The people who love me know it too. That is enough for me," he concluded.

(With inputs from India Today)