Angelo Mathews ruled out of first Test against Bangladesh
Sri Lanka cricketer Dinesh Chandimal has confirmed Angelo Mathews’ unavailability for the first Test against Bangladesh. The Test skipper reportedly said, “For the first game Angelo is not available.”
The first match of the 2-Test series will start from 31st January at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Sri Lanka will look forward to mounting a comeback after a series defeat against India.
Bangladesh will await a positive outcome after losing in the tri-nation series final to the island nation. The Bangladeshi Test-side were whitewashed in their last Test series against the Proteas in South Africa.
About the Test-series in India, Chandimal said, “It was a really good series against India apart from the second game. Guys played some outstanding cricket. We fought as a team. So once you come here, Bangladesh is really good. The last couple of years they played some outstanding cricket. We are going to play one at a time. We have something up our sleeve. We need to execute that in the middle.”
Regarding the tri-nation series win, he stated, “It has been a really good ODI series apart from the first two games. When you lose the first two games, it gives you more moral and focuses going forward. This is a new format and we have experienced bowlers in our side – Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera. This will be a great series for both teams.”
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath will feature in the Test side of the island nation. The 39-year old has 406 Test-wickets to his name. His experience will definitely play a big part in the upcoming series.
“He is a wily old fox. He can do what he wants to do. He is a big asset to our team. We hope he is going to do his basics right. We will play competitive cricket rather than think about the result. It will be challenging for Bangladesh,” the Lankan captain regarding the presence of Herath in the team.
With Shakib Al Hasan sidelined due to a finger injury, Bangladesh have picked six spinners in the squad for the first Test.
Regarding the squad of the hosts, Chandimal opined, “When you are playing in sub-continent, spinners will come into the game every time. Challenge is always there. We have our game plan and we need to execute it will.”
“He is a really good player. Unfortunately, he got injured in the last game. We don’t want to think about it as a team. We look forward to the series,” Chandimal stated about Shakib Al Hasan.
When asked about Sri Lanka’s being the favorites ahead of the series, Chandimal said, “We don’t know about that. We are here to play some competitive cricket. It is up to you guys to choose the favorites. We want to start well as a unit.”
