Sri Lanka T20 captain Lasith Malinga last week decided to play for - TopicsExpress



          

Sri Lanka T20 captain Lasith Malinga last week decided to play for Mumbai Indians and not Southern Express in the forthcoming Champions League tournament in India. The decision was hotly debated in different forums, as it once again fuelled speculations that the paceman with the slinging action put self before country. Following are the excerpts of an interview Ceylon Today had with Malinga. Q: You have decided to represent Mumbai Indians at the Champions League T20. Why didn’t you give preference to Southern Express you captained to victory in the Super Fours tournament? A: First Mumbai got selected to the Champions League. Later Southern Express got selected as we won the Super Fours. I got a chance to captain the team. I’m happy I got that chance. I had the services of some senior players, those who had played for the country. Kusal Janith was injured. Another senior player (Tillakaratne Dilshan) was not there as he was playing for Surrey. Winning the tournament was important as it provided a great opportunity for some young players to play some international cricket. I’m happy to lead the team to victory and create that chance for younger players. Then I had to choose if I were to play for the Southern Express or Mumbai Indians. I wrote a letter to the cricket board and informed that I would be playing for Mumbai Indians. SLC said they preferred me to play for the local team but the decision was in my hands. So I thought people would criticize or praise me for my decision. I thought of taking a fair decision for the betterment of the game in Sri Lanka. Q: How is your decision going to benefit the game in the country? A: I came to Colombo in 1999, when I got selected to the fast bowling academy. From that day we had all our training at NCC and SSC grounds. We all know that after training we have something called recovery (recovery time allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues). For that swimming is something really important. We used the pools at the NCC or SSC. After some time Khettarama became the main training centre. We started our training and gym work there. I thought a swimming facility for Khettarama is a must as we have to travel for 45 minutes or so in search of a swimming pool. Going to the SSC or NCC is not practical. I think to build a state-of-the-art swimming facility one needs around 150-175 lakhs of rupees. Then I saw that there was a chance for SLC to earn that much if I chose to play for the Mumbai Indians. If I played for the Southern Express that chance would be gone. I thought it’s additional income for the SLC which can be utilized properly. I took the decision thinking about the players who would play the game tomorrow, for the national team, A team and other junior teams. Now we talk about the short life span of fast bowlers… that’s because the recovery is not done properly. So a swimming pool at Khettarama is vital. Mumbai Indians will pay SLC 150,000 dollars, close to 200 lakhs. I think that’s more than enough to build a swimming facility. On the other hand now a young cricketer can play in the Champions League (for Southern Express) and gain valuable experience. I have already written to SLC informing them of my desire to see a swimming pool at Khettarama. I’m happy with my decision. Q: But people have always suspected your motives when choosing these cash rich private leagues… A: People say I don’t play for the country and I give preference to the IPL and I do better when I play in the IPL. That’s their idea. But I’ve played 30 Test matches for Sri Lanka and taken 101 wickets. Also taken more than 270 wickets playing in more than 170 ODI matches… I was the fastest to take 250 ODI wickets. I’ve taken three hat-tricks playing for Sri Lanka. But when I play I try to do my level best, irrespective of which team I’m playing for, be it Sri Lanka, IPL or Big Bash. I play to win matches. That’s the brand of cricket I play. People can look at this differently. I think people remember well what I have done most recently. If I have failed to take wickets they remember that… they don’t remember my good performances, my five wicket hauls. I don’t worry about these things. I have played seven seasons for Mumbai Indians in the IPL (he has taken 119 wickets, the highest by any bowler). That experience was very important. It came handy in the T20 World Cup final against India. I gained a lot from the IPL. Now, people have to understand that Champions League has nothing to do with a country. It was developed from the IPL, and it’s a private competition, cash oriented one. Q: It was reported that you negotiated for higher payment for the Southern Express players… A: That’s right. I asked for more payments for the players who will go to the Champions League. I didn’t say I was not playing for Southern Express, but I negotiated for the players in the team. Today, a pair of shoes for a cricketer would be thirty thousand rupees and a bat would come to 50 to 60 thousand. A player needs at least five lakhs to buy the necessary equipment for a single season. I don’t think young players can afford this even if they do a job. They even borrow gear from senior players. After playing an entire season in the division one a young player won’t get more than 60 thousand rupees. That’s the situation. In the Super Fours tournament we got 4500 rupees per match. We had only three matches. That’s not enough even to pump petrol to the vehicle. The prize money was 15 lakhs. Still we haven’t got that. That’s why I asked for this money to make the players’ future better. People can criticize me. But my motive was that. We get 500,000 dollars for playing the champions league. That’s around 650 lakhs. I asked for 70 % of that money for the players. Only three nationally contracted players were there in my team… me, Kusal and Dilshan. Other players don’t have a contract. Financial wise they face difficulties. So my idea was to create a good platform for their future. That’s why I asked for that money. But finally we were promised only 10 % of that money. That’s not enough, but I’m happy that we got even that amount after the negotiations. Q: Your discussion with the cricket officials and your decision to play for Mumbai Indians got wide publicity. A: I had a meeting with the exco members, eight or ten were there. It was a private meeting. I discussed with them and then went home. Next day I see everything in the news. All the details, what people said and so forth. everything’s there. That’s how things are happening now. I think these people (cricket officials) don’t want to talk with people and iron out differences. I think by doing these things they are distancing the players. They may be thinking they can gain some mileage from this but it’s not right. They have to respect players and treat them properly. That kind of mutual respect and cooperation is needed.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 17:56:13 +0000

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