Stats: Angelo Mathews becomes third Sri Lankan to play 200 games at home across formats

Angelo Mathews becomes only third Sri Lankan to play 200 games at home (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Sri Lanka took on New Zealand in the second Test at the Galle International Stadium in Galle on September 26. Former Sri Lanka skipper, Angelo Mathews achieved a rare feat as he played his 200th international game at home. With this feat, he joined the esteemed list of Sri Lanka players such as Mahela Jayawardene (249 matches) and Kumar Sangakkara (235) to have played more games at home.

Overall, only 16 players in the world have played more than 200 games for their respective countries at home. The list includes stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Allan Border, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Ricky Ponting, James Anderson and others.

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Before the second Test against New Zealand, Mathews had scored almost 7000 runs and had plucked 200 wickets across formats. The veteran is an integral part of Sri Lankan Test and ODI teams but had to wait for a while to come back to the T20I side, which he eventually did earlier this year. He even blamed the management to have stalled his T20I career in between. 

“In the last two Lanka Premier League seasons I batted and bowled well, but unfortunately I wasn’t selected for the T20 World Cups, and I wasn’t given reasons for that. If you take decisions that are driven by agendas, these kinds of things can happen – we haven’t even qualified for the Champions Trophy,” Mathews had said.

“But one thing I believe is that if you train and play wholeheartedly, you can create an environment for yourself where you can perform. I kept my efforts up over the last couple of years. I think I can play for a little while longer,” he added.

Here’s the list of players with 200+ international games at home: