“Reconsider decision to retire”: Lasith Malinga requests Bhanuka Rajapaksa to not retire from international cricket

Lasith Malinga requests Bhanuka Rajapaksa: The former Sri Lankan captain wants a rookie batter to continue playing international cricket.

Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa has sent a shocker to the cricketing fraternity by retiring from international cricket. Rajapaksa, 30, has followed the likes of South Africa wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock in terms of retiring from the highest level at a comparatively young age. However, de Kock has only retired from Test cricket unlike Rajapaksa.

According to a SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) source, Rajapaksa has handed over his retirement letter to the cricket board which is yet to accept the same.

Rajapaksa’s reason behind retirement is a recent change made to judge the fitness criteria of a player. It was in 2021 that SLC had decided to replace the Yo-Yo Test with the 2km Test.

According to the new method, a player was expected to complete a 2 km-run within eight minutes and 35 seconds in order to be eligible for national selection. The time limit was soon changed to eight minutes and 55 seconds upon a request from Cricket Technical Advisory Committee.

What hasn’t worked with Rajapaksa is the current selection committee reducing the time limit to eight minutes and 10 seconds. While players will still be eligible for selection if they complete a 2 km-run within eight minutes and 35 seconds, SLC will deduct a part of money from their central contract for not completing it in within eight minutes and 10 seconds.

Lasith Malinga requests Bhanuka Rajapaksa to not retire from international cricket

In his letter, Rajapaksa has claimed that attaining such fitness levels will hamper his power-hitting ability in international cricket. Perhaps astonished by the retirement of a rookie player, former Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga took to social media platform Twitter to request Rajapaksa to reconsider his decision to retire from international cricket.

Believing that Rajapaksa has it in him to contribute more towards Sri Lankan cricket, Malinga highlighted how international players face “so many challenges”.

Rajapaksa’s two-year old international career has seen him representing Sri Lanka in 18 T20Is and five ODIs. Rajapaksa, who has scored three half-centuries at the highest level, had played a crucial role in Sri Lanka’s ODI victory against India and ICC T20 World Cup 2021 victory against Bangladesh last year.