ICC World Twenty20: Lasith Malinga's stepping down from captaincy comes at a bad time for Sri Lanka ahead of mega event

New Delhi: The timing of injury-ravaged pacer Lasith Malinga's stepping down as Sri Lanka’s captain for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in India, comes at a bad time just ahead of the mega event.

Inexperienced Sri Lanka are having a difficult time in T20Is and that was highlighted during the recently concluded Asia Cup and also the three-match series against India prior to that.

Just ahead of such an important tournament a skipper decides to step down will not boost the side, as it also shows that the Lankan side have been crippled further.

Malinga, who led Sri Lanka to their maiden World Twenty20 title in the previous edition, is battling a nagging knee injury and that also forced the player to sit out of the Asia Cup after having played a solitary match.

Malinga, who will play the ICC event, needs to be fully fit in order to give his side a chance of making progression. The islanders will look to take the warm-up games seriously and get back in the groove ahead of the main showdown.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews, who leads Sri Lanka in ODIs and Tests, will now be the team’s captain is all three formats of the game.