Ahead of the upcoming crucial home Tests against England and South Africa tour, Sri Lanka suffered serious injury concerns as the veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews is likely to miss those Test matches later this month due to a hamstring injury.
Mathews sustained the hamstring injury during Colombo Kings' defeated Lanka Premier League semi-final clash with Galle Gladiator on Sunday (December 13). However, the extent of Mathews' injury is not yet known, but he will be reportedly unavailable for Sri Lanka's tour of South Africa in January 2021.
The Islanders are slated to tour South Africa to play the two-Test series starting on December 26 with the second and final Test is scheduled to begin on January 3 in Johannesburg.
The all-rounder has himself admitted that he is highly unlikely for the upcoming South Africa series, but might be able to return before the two home Tests against England starting January 14.
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According to a report in ESPNCricinfo: “The physio assessed it and said it looks like I will be out of the South Africa series, but I'll get an MRI today to confirm.”
The veteran captained the Kings in all the nine games in LPL 2020 but unfortunately injured himself during his fourth over in the semi-final and immediately left the field owing to the pain and didn't take further part in the match on Sunday.
He added, “[The injury] had been building up. I wanted to rest myself and wasn't able to rest myself during the tournament. Even the previous game I felt it a little bit, and then I felt it go in the last game.”
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur has already arrived in South Africa to make necessary arrangements for the team's arrival for the upcoming Tests and has expressed his disappointment on Twitter after learning about Mathews' injury.
Arthur tweeted: “Just arrived in SA and watched commentary of the @LPLT20 well-done @GalleGladiators but please can we have no more of our test squad injured @OfficialSLC.”
Noteworthy, Sri Lanka will host England in a two-match Test series – which was earlier postponed in March this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the conclusion of the South Africa tour.
(With ANI Inputs)
