COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s sacked skipper Angelo Mathews was dropped on Wednesday from the ODI and T20 squads against England after he accused the board of making him a scapegoat for the team’s Asia Cup debacle.
The all-rounder was not included in the squad for the five ODIs and the one-off T20 against England beginning on Oct 10.
Cricket officials said fitness concerns forced them to drop Mathews. However, he was retained in the Test squad, officials said.
“I have been made the scapegoat in this entire saga of Sri Lanka’s dismal performance against Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup,” Mathews said in a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket after he was sacked earlier this week as ODI, T20 captain.
ODI and T20 squad:
Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Lasith Malinga, Amila Aponso, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha and Kusal Perera
Test squad:
Dinesh Chandimal, (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Lakshan Sandakan and Niroshan Dickwella.
Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2018
