Former Sri Lankan captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara calls to resolve the problems quickly between Angelo Mathews, the head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and the team management through direct, honest and clear conversations.
Mathews led Sri Lankan cricket team had a poor performance in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2018 where they were eliminated from the first round (Group Stage) after losing both their Group B matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
After that disappointing tournament, Mathews was sacked from the captaincy role which he felt betrayed and termed himself a ‘scapegoat’. Later, Mathews was even dropped from the upcoming home five-match ODI series against England. However, he has been selected for the three-match home Test series against England.
Talking about the present condition in Sri Lankan cricket team, Sangakkara told ESPNcricinfo, “I think this breakdown of communication needs to be sorted quickly. It needs to be sorted through direct, honest and clear conversations between captain, the management and the player concerned. They need to make sure, also, that the public has the right idea of why this decision has been taken, especially at an emotional time.
“What they have to be careful is that it’s not a knee-jerk reaction to the team’s performance at the Asia Cup, but it’s actually a worthwhile decision for the side. But I really think that with Hathurusingha’s strategy, Angelo will find himself back in the side very soon.”
Hathurusingha has recently raised some questions on Mathews’ poor running between the wickets. Though he hasn’t been dismissed through the run-out since 2015, his poor running between the wickets has recently forced many batting partners to be run-out victims. However, Sangakkara doesn’t feel Mathews is a bad runner rather than he points out the bad communication.
Sangakkara said, “The running is not a stat that I’ve really looked at – I wasn’t the best runner between the wickets either. I think that in a batting line-up where you’ve batted in the same positions consistently, communication improves between batsmen. They understand each other’s games, and understand how the other batsman runs, and how they react to quick singles or turning back for a second or a third.
“One of the things you seen when you have bad running between the wickets is bad communication – maybe a player doesn’t know what his partner is looking for in terms of gaps and singles. That’s another reason I think Sri Lanka needs to very quickly settle down with a consistent batting line-up.”
Sangakkara also feels Mathews needs to return to his bowling role. The 31-year-old right-arm pacer hasn’t bowled a single ball yet in the international cricket in this calendar year (2018) due to his fitness issue. However, Sangakkara believes Mathews bowling will help the team hugely in international cricket.
Sangakkara said, “Angelo’s performances in the past suggest that he’s a player of great value to the side. I think it’s very important to get Angelo bowling again. I think it does his confidence a lot of good. It does the Sri Lankan side a lot of good. And whoever is captain – whether it’s Angelo or Dinesh Chandimal – it gives them a lot of options to use a multi-skilled cricketer in different situations. All of that is going to be absolutely vital to their chances at the World Cup.”
