|| Desk Report ||

 

After a terrible campaign in the Asia Cup 2018, where the Lankans couldn’t muster a single win and had to bow out of the tournament from the group stages itself, Sri Lanka Cricket have decided to strip Angelo Matthews off the role of the captain.

In what seems like a bizarre turn of events, Dinesh Chandimal has been placed in the leadership role of the Lankans. This comes just 8 months after Sri Lanka Cricket appointed Matthews as the “long-term” ODI and T20I captain after a recommendation from coach Chandika Hathurusingha.

At the time, the former Bangladesh coach stated that despite injuries being a concern with Matthews, he was the best man to lead the side.

“I thought Mathews is the best person to captain the ODI team. My only concern is player fitness, but we have a long term plan in place,” Hathurusingha said back in January.

Despite clearly claiming that there was a long term plan with Matthews, it all went out of the window after a dismal outing at the Asia Cup. The signs were there, however, as just two weeks after being named as the captain of the ODI and T20I teams, respectively, Matthews found himself being grasped by the fangs of injury.

Matthews only led his side in one ODI series against South Africa after he recovered in July. While Sri Lanka lost the ODI series at home against the Proteas, they did win the sole T20I under Matthews’ stewardship.