A Look at Angelo Mathews's International Career After Test Retirement

Recently, the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 round has started. On the one hand, the Indian team is facing the England team for a five-match Test series, while on the other hand, the Sri Lankan team is hosting the Bangladesh cricket team in a two-match Test series. In the first match of Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh, Sri Lanka's experienced all-rounder Angelo Mathews played the last Test of his career. He will still be available for selection in T20 and ODI. Last month, he announced that the first match of the Test series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would be his last Test match.

He has been a great player for Sri Lanka in all formats for a long time. He has also captained the Sri Lanka team. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka Cricket got many memorable victories. However, Sri Lanka Cricket often failed due to a lack of experienced players. Mathews made his Test debut in 2009 and played 119 Test matches, scoring 8,214 runs with 11 centuries and 39 half-centuries. He has scored 5916 runs in his ODI career so far, including 3 centuries and 40 half-centuries. While he has scored 1416 runs in his T20 career so far, including 6 half-centuries.

He captained the Sri Lankan Test, ODI, and T20 teams and was known for his strong temperament and ability to assess game situations. Although he initially excelled as an all-rounder, injuries in the latter part of his career led him to focus primarily on his batting.

In July 2022, Mathews played his 100th Test match for Sri Lanka. As captain, Mathews led his national team to the 2014 Asia Cup title. On 7 November 2023, Mathews became the first player in the history of international cricket to be declared a time-out without facing a ball, as it happened during the group stage match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.

When Kumar Sangakkara resigned as ODI captain after the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, Angelo Mathews was considered to be Sri Lanka's next limited-overs captain. However, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan had brief tenures. Jayawardene resigned as T20I captain after Sri Lanka's defeat in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Final, and was replaced by Lasith Malinga. Mathews eventually replaced Jayawardene as ODI and Test captain in February 2013.

After Test retirement, he would like to win the upcoming cricket matches of ODIs and T20Is. The 2024 Asia Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup are undoubtedly on his radar. But like every cricketer, his ultimate goal would be to end his international career by winning the ODI World Cup trophy.