India vs Sri Lanka 2017: Angelo Mathews back to full fitness for India tour

What's the story?

Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has been declared fit for the upcoming tour of India. The Lankans will play three-match Test, ODI and T20 series between 16th November and 24th December. Moreover, Kusal Perera and Asela Gunaratne have also proved their fitness and will be considered for selection, as per Sri Lankan Cricket CEO Ashley De Silva.

"Angelo and Kusal Janith [Perera] have both recovered and they will be considered for selection for the Indian series. Asela Gunaratne is fit as well," SLC CEO said.

Sri Lanka, having lost their last 16 limited-over matches on the trot, will look forward to having the three back in the team and interim coach Nic Pothas reiterated the feeling.

"It's pretty obvious what the mood will be like when you've lost 16 games," Pothas said. "With respect to new faces, that's a conversation that we need to have with the selectors. But I think it stands to reason that in any walk of life, when you've had negative results for a period of time you need to see some change somewhere."

In case you didn't know...

India and Sri Lanka will play a full-fledged three-match series of all the three formats, starting from the Test series in Kolkata on the 16 of November. Nagpur and Delhi will host the next two matches of the series.

The first of the three ODIs will be played at the picturesque HPCA stadium in Dharamsala on 10th December, while Mohali and Visakhapatnam respectively will see the next two ODIs being played there. As far as the T20I series is concerned, Cuttack, Indore and Mumbai will host the matches respectively.

The heart of the matter

All the three aforementioned players, Mathews, Perera and Gunaratne were not a part of the Sri Lankan team which toured UAE and Pakistan recently. In their absence, the Lankans went on to win the test series but surrendered meekly in both the ODI and T20 series.

What next?

Sri Lanka will start their tour of India with a practice match against the Board President's XI, which will be led by Naman Ojha. The two-day match will be played in Kolkata on the 11th and 12th of November.

Author's Take

Having Mathews back in the team - which has been struggling to get things going - will be a big boost ahead of a gruelling tour against a rampant Indian team.