What’s the story?
Angelo Mathews has been declared ready-to-go for the Champions Trophy clash against India on Thursday (June 8). The Sri Lankan skipper passed the fitness test at Lords and was seen being a part of fielding practice sessions with fielding coach Nic Pothas.
“I’m fully fit now but I won’t be able to bowl. It’s been a very frustrating six to eight months for me. I have tried to get back as soon as possible, but my body has responded well enough. That’s the way it is and you have to face the challenges and my aim is to concentrate on my job now. Even in the last game, it was tough to let go because there was fair bit of risk involved and then the team management decided to not to risk,” Mathews said in an interview with thepapare.com
The clash against India is Sri Lanka’s second game of the tournament and following their opening game loss to South Africa, will be considered to be a potential quarter-final for the Mathews-led side.
Also read: Captains in Champions Trophy: Evolution in pictures
In case you didn’t know..
Mathews missed Sri Lanka’s opener against India, thanks to his recurring calf injury. He picked up the calf troubles in South Africa earlier this year, and has not been able to play with freedom and longevity since then.
He was declared fit for the Champions Trophy, but strained the calf muscle in Sri Lanka’s warm-up tie against New Zealand.
The details
The 30-year-old took his fitness test in London on June 4 while his team practised at the Lord’s nursery ground.
Talking about stand-in skipper Upul Tharanga’s two-match ban for slow over-rate, the man from Colombo expressed his disappointment while touting Tharanga to be one of Sri Lanka’s best batsmen right now.
While adding to the same, he also said that the captain needs to be backed in the field and supported in such circumstances.
What’s next?
Mathews has to go right back to the drawing board when he walks out against the Virat Kohli led team on Thursday. He is most likely to come in place of Tharanga and will contribute to the side purely as a batsman.
Kusal Perera might take Tharanga’s place as an opener while Mathews will settle himself in the middle order for the big game.
Author’s take
The upcoming game will be crucial not only for Sri Lanka, but for Mathews on an individual level. He has been in and out of action in the past six months or so and he needs to find his touch to lead his team from the front.
Sri Lankan cricket is going through a comparatively tough phase right now and getting their skipper back to premium fitness probaby is job one on their revival program.
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