Mathews out of rest of Bangladesh series

Sri Lanka’s cricket board said in a statement on Monday that Upul Tharanga would captain the side during the two-match T20 series this week, without revealing why Mathews was sidelined.

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews has been struggling with an ankle injury.

Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews will miss the remaining fixtures of Bangladesh’s tour after being ruled out of the T20 matches starting in Colombo on Tuesday.

Mathews — who returned home in January halfway through the tour of South Africa after twisting his ankle — also missed Sri Lanka’s Test and ODI matches against Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka’s cricket board said in a statement on Monday that Upul Tharanga would captain the side during the two-match T20 series this week, without revealing why Mathews was sidelined.

The board had expressed hope that the skipper would feature in the shorter formats of the game after he was held back from the two-Test series.

Sri Lanka drew both the Test series and the ODI matches 1-1. One of the three ODI games was abandoned due to rain.

Kusal Perera was ruled fit enough to join the squad, but will be replaced by wicketkeeper-batsman Sandun Weerakkody should he be unable to play.

Sri Lanka squad: Upul Tharanga (capt), Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilshan Munaweera, Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Perera, Isuru Udana, Dasun Shanaka, Vikum Sanjaya, Milinda Siriwardana, Asela Gunaratne, Seekkuge Prasanna, Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Lakshan Sandakan and Shehan Jayasuriya.