Despite his impressive ODI record, Angelo Mathews was left out of Sri Lanka’s squad for the World Cup Qualifier in June, a tournament they won to secure their spot in the upcoming main tournament, set to start in less than four weeks. Surprisingly, Mathews won’t be part of the squad for the highly anticipated competition.
Mathews boasts 221 ODI appearances for Sri Lanka, maintaining an average of over 40 with the bat. He has scored three centuries and 40 half-centuries, with a top score of 139*. Additionally, he has taken 120 wickets, making him one of the 22 players in history to achieve both 5,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODIs. Only Sanath Jayasuriya has scored more runs and taken more wickets for Sri Lanka in ODIs than Mathews.
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In the 2019 World Cup, Mathews was the second-highest run-scorer for Sri Lanka, tallying 244 runs in the tournament, including a century against India. However, his ODI performance declined rapidly after 2019, with sporadic contributions and no half-centuries since then.
Despite a stunning bowling performance in one ODI against the West Indies, his batting form waned. Mathews faced a two-year hiatus from the ODI format after being dropped due to personal reasons. Although he was recalled earlier this year, his return to the side did not coincide with a return to form, resulting in another omission for the World Cup Qualifier.
Sri Lanka’s middle order now features Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, and Dhananjaya de Silva, who have all shown consistent batting performances this year. While Mathews remains a versatile all-format player for Sri Lanka, it appears that his ODI career has come to an end.
