Angelo Mathews will miss the white-ball series against India after requesting Sri Lanka Cricket to relieve him from national duties until further notice amid the contractual dispute.
Angelo Mathews Opt-Out of India Series
SLC on Wednesday (July 7) announced that 29 of the 30 players considered for the white-ball series against India have signed the tour contract.
The latest development says that veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews is thinking about international retirement. Mathews, 34, last played for Sri Lanka in a Test match against Bangladesh in April.
He didn’t feature in the limited-overs side due to different reasons and now, the star all-rounder is reportedly planning to bring curtains to his illustrious career.
“Angelo Mathews, who was included in the respective 30-member squad, requested Sri Lanka Cricket to relieve him from National Duties, owing to personal reasons, until further notice,” said the SLC.
Mathews last played for Sri Lanka in a Test match against Bangladesh in May.
Sri Lanka Players Refuse to Sign Contracts
Last month, Sri Lanka’s players had refused to sign tour contracts for the England series amid an ongoing tussle with the board over an alleged lack of transparency in the central contracts.
The players felt the rating system used for gradation lacked clarity and that the compensation they were offered was inadequate.
That was days before Sri Lanka’s departure for England for their limited-overs tour. The tour eventually went ahead as per schedule where Sri Lanka ended the tour winless.
Sri Lankan Players breaches bio bubble in the UK
That tour ended on a bitter note with vice-captain Kusal Mendis, opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka and wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella being sent home and suspended pending an inquiry for breaching the team’s bio-secure bubble. It’s uncertain at this stage if they will be a part of the India series.
Mathews is one of the finest all-rounders to have played for the Lankan Lions. The right-handed batsman can anchor the innings in the middle overs and playing big shots isn’t beyond his reach either. If that’s not enough, his right-arm pace bowling has been proven handy at times.
Seeing his brilliance, the national selectors appointed him the captain even when the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, and Tillakaratne Dilshan were active cricketers.
The all-rounder also did well in the leadership role. However, things changed after the retirement of the legendary trio. Sri Lanka lost one series after another and pressure was piling up on Mathews.
He quit captaincy in 2017 but remained an integral part of the national team. So far, he has played 90, Tests, 218 ODIs, and 49 T20Is, scoring 13219 runs and scalping 191 wickets.
These numbers might not be changed ever as Mathews could bring curtains to his international career.
