Mathews made a scapegoat for failures, says Ranatunga
MUMBAI: Sri Lanka cricket finds itself in desperate times and one of the urgent requirements is to find a leader — one who can guide the national team through the situation they are in.
The Sri Lankans have hit the nadir once again by losing all their matches so far against the rampant India team, the latest being their defeat in the third ODI at Pallekele on Sunday night, which resulted in the visitors sealing the five-match affair 3-0 with two more games to go.
Nic Pothas, the interim head coach, has exposed Sri Lanka’s poor selection policies and lack of direction in the wake of the Test series whitewash to India and defeat in the first ODI.
On Sunday, Dinesh Chandimal — who was not even there in the original squad — played in the third ODI while Chamara Kapugedera captained the side.
Chandimal suffered a fracture in his thumb during the game and will miss the remainder of the series. Chandimal had replaced Upul Tharanga, who was banned for two matches due to slow overrate in the second ODI. This was not the first time Tharanga was banned for the team’s slow overrate — as recently as in June, he had suffered a similar punishment during the ICC Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka have had several captains — including veteran Rangana Herath in the Test series earlier — but none of their appointments have provided any respite to them. Chandimal, who led Sri Lanka in the last two matches of the three-Test series, was severely
(Angelo) Mathews is the best captain after Ranjan Madugalle. When he said that he wanted to quit, SLC should have told him to hang in there. ARJUNA RANATUNGA, On Mathews
censured for his unimaginative and uninspiring captaincy.
Angelo Mathews’ resignation plunged Sri Lanka further into the abyss.
Mathews stepped down as captain across all formats in July this year in the wake of Sri Lanka’s defeat in the five-match ODI series to Zimbabwe — another low point in their history.
However, if former captain Arjuna Ranatunga is to be believed, Mathews should not have been allowed to resign from captaincy.
“Mathews is the best captain I have seen after Ranjan Madugalle. When he said that he wanted to quit, SLC should have told him to hang in there without throwing the towel in. If I had any say, I would have told him that this is not the time to quit,” Ranatunga told Cricbuzz.
“When Sri Lanka whitewashed No 1 ranked Australia in the Test series last year, there were lot of people to take credit, but sadly when he lost he was made the scapegoat and all the blame was on him. Mathews was a very positive captain, but due to constant changes and lots of chopping and changing he started becoming negative because he lost the confidence,” the former captain added.