Hamstring strain puts Mathews out of action for two weeks

Tuesday, 26 December 2017 01:58 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ESPNCricinfo: Angelo Mathews will be out of action for at least two weeks with the hamstring strain he sustained on Friday – another chapter in his long-standing woes with leg injuries.

Mathews pulled up injured as he ran in to deliver the third ball of his third over in the T20 in Indore. He left the field without completing that over, and did not return to bat. Sri Lanka’s team management has since confirmed the presence of a grade one strain – an injury that will not only rule him out of the third T20 against India on Sunday, but will also put him in doubt for the start of the forthcoming Bangladesh tour. The official word is that Mathews may be fit again in two weeks, but his recoveries have often taken longer than expected.

Though it is calf injuries that have given Mathews most grief over the past 18 months, hamstrings have also been problematic throughout his career. Since the middle of 2015, he has missed a full tour of Zimbabwe, come home early from a tour of South Africa, missed Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka, and missed a full tour of the UAE – all because of various leg injuries.

The team management had already decided not to deploy Mathews’ bowling in Tests, in order to minimise risk of further complaints, but this latest injury also raises doubts over whether his body can sustain even a limited-overs workload.

There is also the issue of his batting form. The stuttered nature of his international involvement over the past two years has coincided with a long lean stretch. He had just begun to produce runs again when this injury was sustained.