`Injured` Mathews ruled out of B'desh T20Is

Colombo [Sri Lanka], Feb 6 (ANI): Limited-overs skipper Angelo Mathews' injury troubles continue to hurt Sri Lanka as he has been ruled out of the two-match T20I series against Bangladesh, beginning February 15 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.

The 30-year-old has been struggling with a hamstring injury since the start of the last year after picking up the same during South Africa tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

As a result, the all-rounder was subsequently forced to skip South Africa and India tour and now he is all set to miss the third-consecutive overseas series in Bangladesh.

Earlier, it was suggested that Mathews could have been fit enough to play in the ongoing Test series, but it now looks unlikely that he would even be available for next month's Nidahas Trophy - a T20 tri-series featuring Bangladesh and India.

Last month, Mathews was reappointed as the captain of Sri Lanka's limited-overs side, less than six months after stepping down from the post.

The shift in captaincy came in less than two months after Thisara Perera was named as Sri Lanka's skipper for the ODI and T20I matches against India in November 2017, replacing Upul Tharanga.

The change came in the wake of poor performances and whitewash losses under Tharanga's captaincy.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to play the second Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh on February 8 before heading into the T20Is. The Nidahas Trophy is slated to be held from March 8.(ANI)