Angelo Mathews' hamstring injury will keep him out of the forthcoming T20 series in Australia, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed. A stand-in captain is expected to be named on Tuesday, when the selectors decide on the squad.
Mathews has been in Sri Lanka since he sustained the injury during his match-winning innings in the second T20 against South Africa. Dinesh Chandimal took the reins in the final T20 of that series, before Upul Tharanga assumed interim leadership of the ODI side.
Sri Lanka's selectors now face a minor dilemma about who should take over the side in Mathews' stead, as both Chandimal and Tharanga do not necessarily make the T20 XI on present form. Chandimal made scores of 6 not out, 22 and 5 in the three T20s against South Africa, and Tharanga only played the last of those matches, hitting 20 off 11 balls. Barring the tour game in December, neither batsman has hit a fifty in any format in the ongoing tour.
"The selection meeting on Tuesday will decide the squad and the captain who will lead in the three matches," a board statement said. "The team will arrive in Canberra on Monday the 13th."
Sri Lanka are expected to play a practice T20 in Canberra on February 15, before flying to Melbourne on 17th for the first of three T20Is.