Sri Lanka haven’t shut the door on Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne, says coach Mickey Arthur

The Sri Lankan cricket team made a radical decision for the tour of Bangladesh as they dropped senior players like Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne. However, coach Mickey Arthur has suggested that the door for them is not yet closed to make a comeback in the national team.

The Sri Lankan cricket board currently finds itself on a sticky wicket with players refusing to sign new contracts that cut fees for some by 40%. Coach Mickey Arthur said that all the steps the Sri Lankan team has taken in recent times have been done so to take the team in a certain direction.

"I think we just took the team in a direction. There’s certainly no door closed on any of them. Angelo and Chandi are fantastic cricketers who are very much part of our Test unit at the moment,” Arthur said in Dhaka.

Bangladesh win the 2nd ODI and take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.#BANvSL pic.twitter.com/s8hlaHxOnp

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) May 25, 2021

Arthur suggested that Sri Lanka need to start looking at players keeping the 2023 World Cup in mind. The coach hinted that the chopping and changing is likely to continue as the Lankan team tries to find the right balance.

“That’s the balancing act when you are transitioning a team, how you get it right. We will keep tweaking that until you do it properly."

"We battled to come to terms with the spinners, which is very surprising for me"- Mickey Arthur

Bangladesh win the first ODI by 33 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.#BANvSL pic.twitter.com/5NIRK3y9lC

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) May 23, 2021

Sri Lanka on Friday will be looking to avoid their first whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh. The Tigers have already taken a 2-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series.

Mickey Arthur is surprised that his players have been struggling against spin, with off-spinner Mehidy Hasan picking seven wickets across the two games while bowling at an economy of under three runs per over.

"We battled to come to terms with the spinners, which is very surprising for me. The batsmen I see out in the nets are totally different to the batsmen who have gone out in the middle. Whether it is performing under pressure or fear of failure – those are things you have to take out of their mind," the Sri Lankan coach added.

Former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya found it hard to come to terms with Sri Lanka being on the verge of suffering a whitewash against Bangladesh. The southpaw tweeted that 'national pride is at stake' for the final game of the series.

As a past player and captain it’s very difficult for me to come to terms with the first series loss to Bangladesh. National pride is at stake boys fight to the last

— Sanath Jayasuriya (@Sanath07) May 26, 2021