Sri Lanka head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has acknowledged that filling the void left by Angelo Mathews won’t happen overnight, following the veteran batter’s retirement from Test cricket last week after 119 appearances.
Mathews brought the curtain down on a stellar red-ball career in Galle, leaving behind a sizeable legacy and an even bigger gap in the middle order.
The baton now passes to one of three uncapped players — Sonal Dinusha, Pawan Rathnayake or Pasindu Sooriyabandara — with one of them set to debut when Sri Lanka face Bangladesh in the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo starting Wednesday.
While all three have impressed in domestic cricket and for Sri Lanka ‘A’, 24-year-old Dinusha has emerged as the frontrunner. A gritty left-handed batter and left-arm spinner, Dinusha is expected to slot in at No.6, with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva likely moving up to the No.4 spot vacated by Mathews.
Angelo was a tireless workhorse. He gave everything for the badge and never threw in the towel,” “Even after 100-plus Tests, he trained like a rookie and his enthusiasm was superb. He set high standards, and his absence will be felt – on and off the field.
Mathews retires as Sri Lanka’s third-highest run-scorer in Test history. His decision, he stated, was influenced by the team’s diminishing Test schedule — with just four matches slated for 2024 — a point he made clear in his farewell remarks.
Jayasuriya, who played 110 Tests himself, emphasised that grooming a successor to Mathews would require patience.
These youngsters have the talent, no doubt,” he said, “but you can’t expect them to walk in and start punching above their weight straight away. They’ll need time to settle and our job as coaches is to steer them patiently down the right path.
Sri Lanka are also making changes to the bowling line-up for the Colombo Test. Left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage and seamer Vishwa Fernando have been drafted in. Fernando, fresh off a solid stint with Warwickshire in county cricket, is expected to replace Milan Rathnayake, who is sidelined with a side strain.
Wellalage may take the place of the out-of-form Prabath Jayasuriya, whose effectiveness has dipped in recent months. However, with the SSC pitch historically offering early movement for pacers, selectors may opt for a three-pronged pace attack featuring Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando and Kasun Rajitha.
The second and final Test begins Wednesday at Colombo’s SSC, with Sri Lanka looking to build on a drawn opener in Galle.
