Malinga cleared to play IPL

Sri Lanka's limited-overs captain Lasith Malinga has been cleared to play the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL)season after his country's cricket board granted the paceman permission to skip the domestic 50-overs tournament on Tuesday.

Selectors had earlier made it mandatory for Sri Lanka players to participate in the Super Provincial One-Day Tournament if they want to be considered for the May 30-July 14 Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.

However, Sri Lanka Cricket said they have decided to release the 35-year-old fast bowler as he would benefit from opportunity to play with "much stronger opposition in the IPL tournament, which consist of international players."

Malinga, who has taken the most wickets (154 in 110 matches) since the first edition of the IPL in 2008, was bought by the Mumbai Indians for 20 million Indian rupees ($290,444) in the January auction.

He had worked as a bowling mentor with the same franchise after going unsold in 2018 auctions.