Rangana Herath named Sri Lanka captain for Bangladesh series

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced veteran spinner Rangana Herath as the stand-in skipper to lead the team against Bangladesh. Earlier on Saturday, SLC had confirmed that their regular captain Angelo Mathews will miss the upcoming 2 match Test series against Bangladesh at home starting from 7th March. Mathews sustained a hamstring injury during the 2nd T20I against the Proteas in Johannesburg which forced him to miss the final T20I against South Africa and the three-match T20I series in Australia.

Albeit there are speculations about Mathews missing out on the Test series due to an injury, there are a few who are still unsure why the all-rounder has deemed himself unavailable for the series. For now, the board is content that the 38-year-old Herath has accepted the task of leading the side in the upcoming series.

“He has taken on the challenge of leading the team through the two Test series against the Bangladeshi team,” a statement from the SLC quoted. This is not the first time that Rangana Herath will be leading the national side. Back in 2016, he had led the team to two comprehensive wins over Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe.

The Sri Lanka squad for the tour is yet to be announced. It is expected that the team will be announced on coming Tuesday. The two Test matches to be played during the series are scheduled to start on March 7 at Galle and on March 15 at Colombo. Incidentally, the Test at Colombo has a historical significance too, as the visiting Bangladeshi team will be playing their 100th Test.

Talking about the current form, Sri Lanka were whitewashed in the Test series against South Africa. Bangladesh, on the other hand, had a good series against England at home but lost by a huge margin in the one-off Test against India. In home conditions, Sri Lanka has a formidable record. Last year, it was the Australian side that had toured the island nation. They were drubbed 0-3 by the Sri Lankan side that was led by Angelo Mathews.