Malinga quits as Sri Lanka's WT20 skipper

Test captain Angelo Mathews will lead Sri Lanka at the ICC World T20 tournament after Lasith Malinga stood down from the position due to injury.

Mathews takes the reins in difficult circumstances; Sri Lanka crashed out of the Asia Cup after defeats to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, with Malinga – their key strike weapon with the ball – playing only the opening match against the United Arab Emirates and taking 4-26 before again breaking down with his chronic knee issue.

Sri Lanka Cricket vice president Mohan de Silva said the paceman had offered to step down on Sunday evening.

"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."

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.

"I am recovering well. It was painful in the first match (against the United Arad Emirates) and it became a little stiff," Malinga told The Indian Express.

"With the World T20 coming up, I decided to sit out in the next two matches.

"For the last three months I couldn’t bowl a single delivery due to the injury. I trained for just one day before the UAE game. I played through pain."

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.

He has not ruled out the WT20 being his final appearance in national colours.

"I have to take a call after the World T20," he said of retirement talk.

"The number of injuries I have suffered… it’s not easy to come back and hit the groove straightaway.

"Sri Lanka need me in World T20. After that I will see how my body works."

Malinga is one of the game's finest 'death' bowlers with searing pace and pinpoint accuracy, and a particularly deadly exponent of the yorker.

He credits the faith shown by Sri Lanka legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara as well as an usual training regime featuring a

"A lot of credit goes to Mahela and Kumar in helping me grow as a death bowler. For the last 10 years or so, they used me at the back end of the innings, thus helping me earn the confidence," Malinga said.

"You must have a good yorker, when you are coming in at the death. You need to have different variations of it.

"People say yorkers come to me naturally. But it’s wrong. I think nothing comes to you naturally at the highest level. You have to practice hard, really hard. My training method has had been simple. I bowl at least 15-16 yorkers in the nets every day, keeping a shoe on the block hole.

"This is both with the new ball and the old one. My training has given me the confidence to bowl yorkers under pressure in any situation."

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.

"We are one of the most consistent teams in the ICC events, playing five finals of late," Malinga said.

"We are going through transition yes. Also, you can’t replace the likes of Mahela and Kumar overnight.

"They were huge players and it would take time for the youngsters to fit into their shoes. But we have Angelo (Mathews), and batsmen like (Dinesh) Chandimal and (Chamara) Kapugedera to play around him.

"We have exciting young players. Any team can win in this format and we are good enough to go the distance."