IPL 2016: Lasith Malinga issued show cause notice by Sri Lanka for joining Mumbai Indians without medical clearance

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has issued a show cause notice to pacer Lasith Malinga after he joined the Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2016, without obtaining the required medical clearance.

The 32-year-old reportedly joined the Mumbai Indians squad on 15 April and trained with them despite not getting a clearance from the Sri Lanka Cricket Board on the same.

An SLC statement said:

Malinga and the new SLC board have not had a great relationship since the Asia Cup T20 in February. The board had also asked him to step down as captain of the T20 squad before the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2016.

Despite this, he was selected in Sri Lanka's World T20 squad only to pull out of the tournament due to fitness issues. Sri Lanka Cricket committee chairman and former batting legend Aravinda de Silva has said that he doubted Malinga's fitness claims and that his fitness would be proved when he would take part in the ongoing IPL.

The pacer has been part of the Mumbai squad since the league started in 2008 and has been a key player for them. Malinga in fact is the highest wicket-taker in IPL history with 143 wickets from 98 games.