Angelo Mathews to give up T20 captaincy?

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Angelo Mathews
(AP Photo/ Bikas Das)

Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews has hinted at the possibility that he may give up the T20 captaincy in order to concentrate more on his 50-over and Test captaincy.

“If I think there is a suitable captain and a better captain than me, I’ll talk to the selectors and step down. If somebody comes through the ranks and is doing really well and is up for the challenge, well, I’ll obviously give it to him.” Mathews said to ESPNCricinfo regarding his future as T20 captain.

The 29-year old all-rounder has captained Sri Lanka in just nine of the 65 T20Is he has played in since making his debut in 2009. He became the youngest Sri Lankan to captain the national team since Arjuna Ranathunga, when he led the T20 team for the first time at the age of 25, against Pakistan in 2012.

After leading Sri Lanka to a 2-0 series whitewash in early 2013 against Australia in Australia, Mathews was replaced by Dinesh Chandimal for over a year until Lasith Malinga successfully led Sri Lanka to the World T20 triumph in Bangladesh in 2014.

Prior to the 2016 Asia Cup and World T20, the selection committee led by Aravinda De Silva re-appointed Mathews as T20 captain in the absence of Malinga, who had requested to step down from the captaincy due to a knee injury, thus making Mathews the captain in all three formats.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has stressed heavily upon having a set captain for all three formats but their stance on the subject could also change in the future.