Malinga told to leave IPL

Sri Lanka's new selection committee have told Lasith Malinga to return home from the Indian Premier League after revealing the bowler had made himself unavailable for the upcoming Test tour of England due to injury.

Malinga ruled himself out of the three-Test series, which begins in Cardiff on May 26, due to a knee complaint, but has continued to play for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Chairman of selectors Duleep Mendis revealed the committee had written a letter to the 27-year-old asking him to return to Sri Lanka and begin a rehabilitation plan.

"It looks a bit awkward when someone says he is injured and continues to play cricket," Mendis told reporters. "That is the reason why we have decided to write to Malinga and ask him to return home and undergo a rehabilitation programme."

He continued: "Malinga has specifically mentioned in a letter that he is not available for Test matches right now because he has a nagging knee problem.

"When the player says that he is injured and he has to undergo a rehab programme what we can do is to tell him to undergo it immediately, without continuing to play cricket in the IPL, and then get ready for cricket in Sri Lanka if he is interested in playing for his country."

Sri Lanka, who will be captained by Tillakaratne Dilshan for the first time, are short on seam options for the England tour after Angelo Mathews was ruled out with a quad injury suffered during the World Cup.

Malinga would have added much-needed fire to the attack, but has become a limited-overs specialist in recent years.

He has played just two Tests, against India last year, since England's tour of Sri Lanka in December 2007.

"We are very much concerned about Malinga because he is an important product in the team," Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said.

"He should be up and running to play in all three formats of the game. In that sense getting him fit and ready to play at full strength is very important."