Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga set to miss first phase of IPL 2020 in UAE

Iconic Sri Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga is set to miss the initial phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 due to personal reasons and will not be travelling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the cash-rich tournament will be played from September 19 to November 10.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Malinga’s father has been ill and may require a surgery in the coming weeks. The legendary Sri Lankan pacer wants to stay with his father and will be training in Colombo to be ready for IPL in the latter phase of the tournament. Malinga is likely to join the Mumbai Indians camp during the final stages of the tournament.

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One of the deadliest bowlers in the game and famous for his yorkers, Malinga famously defended eight runs in the final over of IPL 2020 against Chennai Super Kings as he helped the Mumbai outfit lift a record fourth title. When CSK needed two runs to win on the final delivery, Malinga nailed a yorker to dismiss Shardul Thakur to seal a memorable win.

As per the report, Sri Lanka’s strict quarantine protocol forced him to stay in Sri Lanka as he would have to spend 14 days in quarantine if he flew to the UAE and then came back to see his father any point. Malinga is second highest wicket-taker in T20s behind Dwayne Bravo and sits atop the list in IPL with 170 wickets after joining Mumbai Indians in 2009.

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However, Mumbai have the likes of Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell McClenaghan to fill the gap left by Malinga’s absence.