This will kill his confidence': Angelo Mathews shocked by Sri Lanka's Test squad for Pakistan excluding key player

This will kill his confidence': Angelo Mathews shocked by Sri Lanka's Test squad for Pakistan excluding key player originally appeared on Cricket News . Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . KEY TAKEAWAYS: Former Sri Lanka players Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedara reacted with shock after opener Lahiru Udara was left out of the Test squad for the Pakistan series. Udara scored 188 against West Indies in July, but he made 3 off 15 balls in the second innings of the second Test against India in August. Kusal Mendis will captain the 15-man squad in Tests at Rawalpindi from November 9 and at Lahore from November 17. Sri Lanka name Test squad for Pakistan series as Lahiru Udara is left out Sri Lanka Cricket has announced a 15-man Test squad for the two-match series in Pakistan. The biggest talking point is a player who is not in it. Former captain Angelo Mathews said he was shocked. He was reacting to opener Lahiru Udara being left out. Chamara Kapugedara responded in much the same way on X, so the selection has already drawn questions from two familiar voices. The squad comes with a new captain. Kusal Mendis takes over the Test side from Dhananjaya de Silva and leads it for the first time in the format. Dilshan Madushanka is recalled, while fast bowler Eshan Malinga and wicketkeeper-batter Anjala Bandara earn their first Test call-ups. MORE: Record attendance at Rawalpindi as Maaz Sadaqat's 96, Imran Randhawa's 3/11 headline Pakistan's T20I series win vs. SL Pathum Nissanka is named but will travel only if he is declared medically fit before the first Test. Udara's omission stands out because of how recent his best form is. He made 188 off 248 balls against West Indies in Antigua in July, his maiden Test hundred. India was tougher, as he fell for 3 off 15 balls in the second innings in Colombo in August. Sri Lanka are seventh in the World Test Championship standings and Pakistan are ninth, so both Tests carry weight. Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedara react to Lahiru Udara's omission Mathews has strong credentials to comment on Sri Lanka's Test selection. He captained the side from 2013 to 2017, leading it to 13 wins in 34 matches, and finished his Test career with more than 8,000 runs. He has now reacted on X to Udara being dropped, just two Tests after the batter's hundred in the West Indies. Mathews wrote , "We always Talk about building confidence in players but shocked to see Lahiru udara being left out from the test squad after scoring 180 in West Indies and failing in just 2 test matches! This will kill his confidence and create doubts in other batters too". Mathews was not the only former player to speak out. Kapugedara posted , "No Lahiru Udara for test in Pakistan. Shocking !!!!!! 180 in West Indies and two test later he's out of the test team. Unbelievable". Both reactions focus on timing. The decision comes in the first Test squad since Udara's hundred, and both players questioned how quickly he lost his place. Mathews also made a wider point about the effect on the rest of the batting group. MORE: Bad light in SA vs AUS: Detailing South Africa's reluctance to host another day-night or pink-ball Test at home since 2017 Sri Lanka Test squad for Pakistan series Sri Lanka have gone with five fast bowlers and two spinners in their 15-man group for Pakistan. Madushanka and Malinga join Milan Rathnayaka, Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando in the pace group. Prabath Jayasuriya and Keshara Nuwantha are the spinners. The batting group is led by Kusal Mendis, with Dinesh Chandimal back after an injury and Bandara added as an uncapped wicketkeeper-batter. Five players from the India series are out. The full squad is listed below. Sri Lanka Test squad for Pakistan series Kusal Mendis (captain) Pathum Nissanka Pasindu Sooriyabandara Dinesh Chandimal Kamindu Mendis Sonal Dinusha Dhananjaya de Silva Anjala Bandara Keshara Nuwantha Prabath Jayasuriya Milan Rathnayaka Lahiru Kumara Asitha Fernando Dilshan Madushanka Eshan Malinga The case for Udara rests on one big innings. His 188 in Antigua included 21 fours and five sixes, and he fell 12 runs short of a double hundred, top-edging a ball from Alzarri Joseph. Sri Lanka finished that first day on 338/5. It was his fourth hundred in eight first-class matches, and he had come into the side in place of Nissanka. The case against him comes from the India series. Udara opened in the second Test in Colombo and was caught off Mohammed Siraj for 3 in the second innings. India won the series 1-0, with a 165-run win in the first Test and a draw in Colombo. Kamil Mishara, who made 32 off 39 balls in that second innings, is also out, along with Sahan Arachchige, Niroshan Dickwella and Vishwa Fernando. MORE: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi appears to drop hint on replacing Sanju Samson for India vs West Indies 4th T20I at Hyderabad Sri Lanka vs. Pakistan Test series schedule Both Tests count towards the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. Before them come a T20I series that ends on Tuesday and an ODI tri-series with England from October 18 to 31. A three-day match in Islamabad from November 4 to 6 then precedes the first Test. Date Match Local Time (IST) Venue November 9-13 Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka, 1st Test 9.30am (10.00am IST) Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi November 17-21 Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka, 2nd Test 9.30am (10.00am IST) Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore To keep up to date with all the latest cricket news and share your opinion on the biggest topics visit our Facebook , Instagram and X (Twitter) pages.