Sri Lanka would be better off with Mathews in ODIs

Televised cricket games tend to make cricket fans pandits in the sport. After Colombo Stars knocked out tournament favourites Kandy Falcons from the finals of the Lanka Premier League, the talk of the town was whether it is time for Angelo Mathews to make a comeback for the limited overs side. Stone faced selectors have refused to budge going ahead with their youth policy, but it’s only a matter of time before they put their pride aside and make the call.

Had the selection panel changed before Sri Lanka’s tour of India coming up later this month, Mathews would have forced a comeback. But with the current panel remaining due to the ongoing probe on what took place during the World Cup campaign in Australia, status quo remains when it comes to selections. If you talk to a few ex Sri Lankan captains, the consensus is that it is time for Mathews to return. The opinions of former captains is an index on which way the sport should move.

The recent three math ODI series against Afghanistan was one last chance for Sri Lanka to boost their chances of automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in India. The team failed to make it count at Pallekele and one of the key points to emerge from the series was that the middle order was fragile. The performance of the middle order was a talking point even during the Men’s T-20 World Cup in November as Sri Lanka failed to make it to the semis.

Mathews is 35 and yes he has passed his prime. But with automatic qualification for the sport’s showpiece event out of the equation and with the team needing to play the qualifying round becoming all the more evident, it’s not a bad idea to have Mathews’ experience in the midst.

Mathews has slowed down over the years and the selectors don’t have the luxury of utilizing him as a bowler which helped them to balance the side over the years. However, during the LPL he gave us a glimpse of what he can do in crunch situations when the asking rate keeps climbing and risks need to be taken to even things out.

One can argue that the youth policy has enabled us to earmark some match winners of the caliber of Pathum Nissanaka and Charith Asalanka, who have not only cemented their places in the side but have been involved in many a rescue missions. If we keep going on the same youth policy, the selectors may argue that we’d be able to unearth more match winners. While that statement is valid the prospect of playing a qualifying round of the World Cup is quite scary and the team would be better off with the experience of Mathews rather than experimenting. Being knocked out of the World Cup a decade after reaching the finals it is an indication how poorly we have managed the team over the last few years.