NOT IN A LONG-TERM CAPTAINCY race with Angelo Mathews, says Herath

Sri Lanka’s stand-in Test captain Rangana Herath, who will turn 39 on Sunday during the current Test against Bangladesh, says winning the first three Tests as captain is a big boost to his career.

Interestingly, Hearth is the first Sri Lankan captain to achieve this. Sri Lanka won both Tests in Harare last year, before the win in Galle under Herath last week. Speaking exclusively here in Colombo, at the Taj Samudra, he says, “It is indeed a big achievement and all credit must go to the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board and the selectors. They have put faith on my capabilities.”

Herath, however, believes that he is not in a long-term captaincy race and is also not competing with Angelo Mathews for it.

“Look, I am captaining the side because Mathews is in-disposed. He (Mathews) is a very good captain and our team has achieved many victories under him, not to mention the big series against Australia. Once he recovers, he will take over from here...,” he said and admitted, “Captaining the side by a bowler is not easy.”

SURPRISE CALL

Congratulatory messages have been pouring in for his heroic performance recently. He the most successful leftarm spin bowler in Tests.

“I was touched by the gesture of the highest Test wicket-taker Muralitharan, who phoned me and congratulated me. Kumarsangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya and many many other cricketers have been sending messages,” Hearth added.

INDIAN SPINNERS

The Lankan spinner also praised India’s Ashwin and Jadeja. “Both are on the top of the ICC ranking. To achieve the top two posts from the same country is remarkable. Ashwin as an off-spinner and Jadeja as a left-arm spinner are doing good job for India,” Herath signed off.