Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies' Andre Fletcher (not pictured) during their second One Day International cricket match in Colombo November 4, 2015. REUTERS
COLOMBO: Lasith Malinga has stepped down as Sri Lanka captain ahead of their World Twenty20 title defence in India, the secretary of the country's cricket board told Reuters on Tuesday.
Angelo Mathews would take over as skipper from paceman Malinga, who remained available to play Super 10 stage matches from March 15, Mohan de Silva added.
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"He is stepping down only from captaincy," de Silva said. "He has offered himself for selection only after (March) 15 because he is undergoing some treatment here in Sri Lanka," the SLC secretary added.
Test and one-day captain Mathews was named Malinga's deputy in the original Sri Lankan squad.
According to media reports, paceman Malinga, who led Sri Lanka to the 2014 World Twenty20 triumph in Bangladesh, is recovering slowly from a knee injury and is not certain to play all the side's matches in India.
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The 32-year-old with an unorthodox action has been a key player in Sri Lanka's progress to three World Twenty20 finals over the last four editions of the tournament.
Sri Lanka begin their bid for a second World Twenty20 title on March 17 with a Super 10 stage match against the Group B winners in Kolkata.
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