Star all-rounder Angelo Mathews is back in Sri Lanka’s Test squad after sitting out in the two-match Test series against Pakistan. However, he is not expected to bowl in the Test series against India despite bowling five overs in the two-day warm-up fixture against Board President’s XI. Notably, Sri Lanka used as many as 14 bowlers in that contest to trim winning bowlers for the series opener.

Sri Lanka’s bowling Coach Rumesh Ratnayake confirmed that Mathews will not bowl in this series and said “Angelo comes in as a batsman. He has not bowled in a Test match for a while. I don’t think he will bowl here. We consider him more as a white-ball bowler and will look to bowl him in the ODIs only.”

Former skipper has suffered several injuries in last 12 months, which kept him at bay for a lengthy period of 2017. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan team management is monitoring his fitness before the series and they will try to manage his workload to prevent him from getting injured.

In this case, visitor’s find for an all-rounder continues for the upcoming three-match Test series. Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva and Roshan Silva are the top contenders to fill this big shoe. Asela Gunaratne is still rehabilitating from a finger injury.

Sri Lanka is short of preparations due to heavy rain in their country. But their bowling coach is confident of a good show in India. “We have done all that we could have done to prepare for this challenge. Now it’s all about executing our plans on the field,” he said.

Ratnayake pointed that the bowlers are working on the reverse swing with SG balls for this series. “Reverse swing a big factor in sub-continent conditions. We have worked on it. The SG ball is not too different from the Duke Ball. We are getting used to it. Eden has always been a good track. It used to help seamers in the past. We will take a look at it tomorrow (Monday) and see what’s on offer,” he concluded.

The first Test will undergo in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens from November 16.