Sri Lanka name different captains for Test, ODI and T20 sides

By AFP
January 04, 2024

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka cricket selectors Wednesday named different captains for the Test, one-day international and Twenty20 sides ahead of tours by Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. Batting all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva, 32, will be Test skipper while Kusal Mendis, 28, will lead the ODI team and Wanidu Hasaranga, 26, will captain the Twenty20 squad. It is the first time that Sri Lanka will have separate skippers for all three formats.

“I would have preferred to have the same captain for all three formats,” chief selector Upul Tharanga told reporters in Colombo.

Chief selector and former international player Upul Tharanga speaks during a press conference at the Sri Lanka Cricket Board office, in Colombo on January 3, 2024. — AFP
Chief selector and former international player Upul Tharanga speaks during a press conference at the Sri Lanka Cricket Board office, in Colombo on January 3, 2024. — AFP

“But we are unable to do that at the moment with the players we have.”

Selectors had resolved to retain Mendis through to the next ODI World Cup in 2027, Tharanga said, despite finishing second from bottom at last year’s showpiece in India.

Mendis took over after the last-minute injury withdrawal of Dasun Shanaka and Tharanga said Shanaka had not considered for the captaincy due to performance issues over the past two years.