On Wednesday, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced that the all-rounder Angelo Mathews has opted out from the Sri Lanka team ahead of the white-ball series against India.
Sri Lanka is set to lock horns with India led by Shikhar Dhawan and coached by Rahul Dravid. Both the teams will play 3 ODI’s and the same number of T20 matches which will begin from 13th July
“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,” SLC said in a statement.
SLC also confirmed that 29 players have signed the tour contracts except for Angelo. This makes all the players who signed the contracts available for the series against India. The Sri Lankan team has struggled under the captaincy of Kusal Perera as they have lost the last two series against England and Bangladesh.
The 34-year-old player last featured in the series against Bangladesh and was not even selected for the previous series against England as he took paternity leave. The Lankan side lost that series and was dearly missing the experience of Angelo Mathews.
SLC has adopted a very strict selection policy as they are planning to drop experienced players to make way for young blood in the team as they are eying for the 2023 World Cup. The likes of Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chamdimal have been cast aside. Thisara Perera has also taken a retirement.