Malinga to undergo ankle surgery

 Sri Lanka received a massive jolt on Friday when Lasith Malinga was ruled out of action for 16 weeks due to a surgery on his troublesome left ankle. Malinga has been sent to Australia to undergo surgery on his ankle. The duration means that Malinga will only be able to resume full training and practice just a week before Sri Lanka’s opening match against New Zealand in Christchurch on February 14. 

This means Malinga will miss the seven-match ODI series against England in November-December and will miss Sri Lanka’s tour to New Zealand in December-January. Jayasuriya said that it was important that Malinga plays some ODIs during the New Zealand series as it was important to regain match fitness and rhythm just before the start of the World Cup. 

Malinga will undergo Arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle at the Avenue Private Hospital in Melbourne. After the operation, Malinga will stay in the country for two weeks. Sri Lanka’s team physiotherapist Steve Mount said that Malinga had a long term issue with a chronic left ankle pain due to a combination of cartilage degeneration, excessive bone in the joint and bone marrow ocedema. Before the serious nature of the injury was diagnosed, Malinga was receiving anti-inflammatory injections. However, the bowler’s left ankle did not respond to treatment two weeks ago. 

Malinga retired from Test cricket in 2010 due to a degenerative knee condition and played only ODIs and T20Is. However, he was below par in the recent series against Pakistan and it seemed that he was not 100 percent fit. - gocricket.com