ICC World Cup 2019: Sri Lanka Cricket Will Miss Lasith Malinga, Says Dimuth Karunaratne

Updated - 21 Aug 2019, 03:23 PM

Dimuth Karunaratne. Credit: Getty Images

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Sri Lanka finished their ICC World Cup 2019 campaign with a loss against India by seven wickets at Headingley in Leeds. Legendary pacer Lasith Malinga played his last game for Sri Lanka and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne admitted that Sri Lanka Cricket will miss him.

Sri Lanka will miss Malinga: Karunaratne

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul staged a brilliant chase putting 189 runs for the first wicket within 30 overs. Rohit got to his fifth hundred this edition and in the process equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s World Cup record of six. But he soon threw it away as he has done with his last three tons, Rahul took over and got to his maiden World Cup ton. He too perished looking to finish it quickly, and Rishabh Pant followed him. India’s captain Virat Kohli ensured there were no more hiccups.

Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma Take India To Comprehensive Win

Previously, Angelo Mathews’ outstanding century and a fifty from Lahiru Thirimanne propelled Sri Lanka to 264 runs after losing four wickets early. The pair shared a 124-run stand for the fifth wicket to put a challenging total on the board but couldn’t pose any threat to India to chased down with seven wickets remaining.

Dimuth Karunaratne while speaking at the end of the game heaped praise on Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul who were brilliant with the bat. He also added that they need to sit with the selectors and bring in new players to revamp the squad.

Also read: If We Play Well We Can Beat Anyone, Says Virat Kohli

“We ended up with close to 280 which was a good score. We kept losing wickets, and didn’t capitalise on a good start, we had to rebuild which is why we got 260. But Rohit and Rahul batted really well. We have to think about what we got wrong, talk to the selectors and high-performance centre to identify some new talents. Four years is a long time [until the next World Cup],” Karunaratne said.

Furthermore, Dimuth Karunaratne heaped praise on Lasith Malinga who played his last game in Sri Lanka jersey. The skipper said that they will miss him but the career has had to come to an end and they will have to look for a new guy.

“Sri Lankan cricket will miss him, in Test cricket and one-day cricket, he was the man, he’s done a really good job. Everyone has to end their chapter, and we have to find a new guy, as we lacked bowlers to get wickets in the middle parts,” he concluded.