Kumar Sangakkara urges Angelo Mathews and Chandika Hathurusingha to sort their issues

Sri Lanka and 31-year-old Colombo-born cricketer Angelo Mathews haven’t had the best of times of late. Mathews recently captained the national team, which floundered miserably in the 2018 Asia Cup in the UAE, having lost both their Group matches to bow out of the tournament. After the shambolic performance, Mathews was sacked as the captain and later lost his place in the limited-overs series.

Thereafter, Mathews lashed out, saying that he has been made a scapegoat. Moreover, he also has demanded a fitness test to be conducted. Mathews also went on to say that Chandika Hathurusingha, the head coach, would’ve played a part in his removal from the team. In the meantime, Kumar Sangakkara, the former cricketer, reckons Mathews and the coach need to sort out their differences.

Sangakkara’s advice for the Lankans

“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 also has the right idea of why this decision has been taken, especially at an emotional time, Sangakkara was quoted as saying in ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that Lanka need to focus on the future rather than taking any impulsive decision following the drubbings. “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,” he added.

As far as the Asia Cup is concerned, Lanka lost their first match against Bangladesh by 137 runs and then slumped against Afghanistan by 91 runs. The Islanders are next scheduled to play against England in a five-match ODI series, three-match Test series and a one-off T20I at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Their home series gets underway on Wednesday, October 10.

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