Angelo Mathews Gets A Guard Of Honour - (AP)
On Tuesday, June 17, Sri Lanka locked horns against Bangladesh in the first match of the new WTC cycle. It is an emotional game for Angelo Mathews as the 38-year-old will hang his boots from red-ball cricket after the first Test match at Galle.
The star all-rounder made his international debut in 2008, and his career has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride, filled with achievements and controversy in the 17-year-long career. Meanwhile, this article will look at the highlights of Mathews' career.
Maiden Test Ton In Australia - 2011
Mathews has played 119 Test and scored above 8000 runs. He has 16 centuries to his name, but the first one is always special. Notably, the 38-year-old hogged the limelight in the 2011 home series against Australia when he smashed an unbeaten 105.
Youngest Ever Test Captain For Sri Lanka - 2013
In 2013, Angelo Mathews was handed the leadership of the Test side for the first time in his career. It marked a big occasion as Angelo became the youngest Sri Lanka player to become Test captain ( 25y 279d) - a record that is still there.
Series Win In England - 2014
Winning a Test series is a dream for every nation, but only a few can boast of achieving this goal. Notably, in 2014, Sri Lanka travelled to England for a two-match Test series, led by Angelo Mathews.
It was a special series as the visitors emerged victorious after a 1-0 lead in the series. Mathews scripted a special feat as it was only the second time in Sri Lanka's history that they beat England in England. Also, it was the last time that the Island Nation beat the Three Lions away from home in Tests.
T20 World Cup win - 2014
Mathews has won just a solitary ICC trophy in his career, which came in 2014 when Sri Lanka beat India in the final to win the T20 World Cup. The 38-year-old had a key role to play in the tournament, the most memorable one being the 40 of 23 he scored in the semi-finals to seal a win for the Lankans and set up a final against India.
Sri Lanka Cricketer Of The Year - 2015
Mathews had a great career, but his best came in 2014. It was the year of Angelo Mathews, as the right-hand batter scored 2530 runs across all formats, which included three centuries and 17 fifties. He also took 34 wickets in that season.
Whitewash Australia at home - 2016
Mathews added another feather to his cap in 2016 when Sri Lanka under his captaincy, whitewashed Australia in a Test series at home. Beating Australia is always special for any nation, but it was only the second time that Sri Lanka won all the Tests of a series against a big nation at home.
The feat was achieved 15 years after the historic 2001 series win over West Indies.
The Infamous Sacking - 2018
By 2016, Angelo was handed the captaincy of all formats. However, he had a mixed start to his regime in other formats as there were defeats, and he faced the heat. The Sri Lanka board had enough in 2018 when they sacked Mathews for a disastrous Asia Cup.
Sri Lanka were placed in group B alongside Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Angelo Mathews-led side were touted as the favourites, but to everyone's surprise, the Island Nation failed to win a solitary match, finished third in the group and crashed out of the event.
Fitness Under Question - 2019
By 2019, Mathews' running between the wickets had become a big issue, which was even pointed out by the then-Sri Lanka head coach. The 38-year-old was involved in more run-outs than any other active cricketer at that time.
It led to trouble as Angelo's place in white-ball tours also came under threat.
First-Ever Double Hundred - 2020
Mathews biggest moment as a batter in red-ball cricket came in 2020 when he smashed his first-ever double hundred against Zimbabwe. It was also the first double-hundred by a Sri Lanka player in the last five years.
Time-Out Incident - 2023
In 2023, Angelo Mathews became the first-ever cricketer to get timed out in cricket. Sri Lanka faced Bangladesh in 2023 ODI World Cup, which is when Shakib Al Hasan appealed to the umpire that Mathews was late to the crease, which in reality what happened was that Angelo's helmet strap broke and he couldn't face his first ball in time.
Most Sixes In Tests For Sri Lanka
Mathews has hit 89 sixes in Tests, which is the most by any Sri Lankan batter in Test cricket. He is followed by Mahela Jayawardene, who has 61 maximums to his name in red-ball cricket.
.jpg?type=mq "It's not over for Babar")
 "Abhinav Tyagi")
