Angelo Mathews should not be made captain too soon, says Tillakaratne Dilshan

Angelo Mathews is being considered as the strongest candidate to become Sri Lanka’s captain when Mahela Jayawardene steps down. Although injuries had been a major concern for Mathews over the years, he has somehow made himself a key member of the Sri Lankan
setup in all three formats of the game.

The all-rounder is likely to be given the responsibility sooner or later, but Tillakaratne Dilshan does not want team management to make this move too quickly. The former captain stated that Mathews should be groomed for two or three years under a good skipper.

"You can’t give someone the captaincy all of a sudden. He (Mathews) has to be groomed under a good captain for two to three years. Not just on how to handle things on the field, but also off the field. Those are some of the things I learned. It’s not easy,
mind you. I hope Angelo will be a good captain, but he has time. He has to work under Mahela,” said Dilshan.

He added, "Kumar [Sangakkara], Mahela and I are nearing our retirement age. After the next World Cup we would be gone. I think Mahela will have to shoulder the burden till the next World Cup."

Dilshan was reluctant to reveal the reasons behind his decision to quit captaincy. He, however, disclosed that there were some issues which he would reveal after his retirement from the international cricket.

"There were many reasons for me to step down. I don’t like to discuss them at this point as I am still involved in the game. But when I retire I will reveal why I quit," uttered the all-rounder.

He shared, "At that point, with the way things were going, I felt that it’s good to give up the captaincy and concentrate on my game. During that eight-month period I learned a lot of things. That experience taught me who people were. I think it was the
right decision to step down."

Sri Lanka are currently head-to-head with Pakistan in the One Day International series. The two teams are 1-1 in the ODIs with a couple of more games still left in the competition.

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Jun 16 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry