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Although he had come to terms with the fact that he
had not been included in Sri Lanka’s original World Cup squad, Angelo Mathews
was not prepared to give up just yet.
It didn’t matter that he had only participated in
seven One-Day Internationals (ODIs) since the beginning of 2020, three of which
had taken place in New Zealand already, and the idea of participating in a
fourth ODI World Cup looked unattainable. Still, he made the decision to press
on, training frequently at the High-Performance Centre in Colombo in the hopes
of, if nothing else, maintaining his physical condition.
Despite all the wounds and operations, he still felt
driven and hungry, but little did he realise that he would get called up. He
knew his efforts were rewarded when it finally happened—it replaced fast bowler
Matheesha Pathirana’s injury.
“Those things I can’t control, It’s not under my
control,” he said of his initial exclusion. “So, what I can control
is keep pushing myself individually in terms of fitness, bowling, batting,
everything. I mean, when the opportunity comes, I have to be ready.
“I just did that over the last month or so. I was
training extremely hard at HPC with the other boys as well. So, I was giving
myself a chance to… if I get the opportunity, to be prepared. But as I said, I
didn’t expect [the call-up], because after the 15 was selected, I was not
expecting. But it is what it is, the opportunity came.”
“Grateful” for the chance, Mathews intends
to revive the “fun” and attempt to keep Sri Lanka competitive.
However, how does one account for his call-up’s abruptness? Mathews was unable
to do so. All he knows is that he can rely on a plethora of experience.
To begin with, his motto is straightforward: assist
wherever he can, with the bat and “if required” with the ball. The
last stretch indicates that he is prepared to bowl, something he has frequently
been hesitant to do due to injury in recent years.
“Yeah, look, I’ve probably seen it all over the
last 15 years,” he said with a smile, when asked about the twists and
turns of an eventful career that has now brought him here. “So it’s quite
easy for me to sort of focus on what I have to do rather than getting too
affected on what’s happening around me because cricket has taught me so much
over the years.
“And then now I am, I would say, a little more
mature than who I was before to sort of shut down the things which I have to
and then focus on what I have to focus on. So, all I am trying to control is
the controllables, and I try not to worry too much. Well, obviously, we are
people with emotions and then reacting for those emotions is going to damage
you, so I try to keep calm and then focus on what I have to do and then
obviously always do the right thing.”