After the series loss to Zimbabwe, Angelo Mathews decided to step down from captaincy in all formats, Sri Lankan Cricket Board have announced Dinesh Chandimal as the test captain while Upul Tharanga has been named as the captain for One-day Internationals and T20 format.
Sri Lanka lost the ODI series to 11th ranked Zimbabwe by 2-3 in their home den. Mathews called it the lowest point of his career.
Dinesh Chandimal will make his test match captaincy debut in the one-off match against Zimbabwe starting from 14th July in Colombo. He was made the captain of Sri Lanka’s T20 team in 2013 as he became Sri Lanka’s youngest ever captain. The wicketkeeper batsmen did not feature during the five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe because of the poor form at the Champions Trophy 2017 where Sri Lanka was knocked out of the group stage.
Chandimal has played 36 test matches, 127 ODI’s, 48 T20 for Sri Lanka. He made his Test debut in 2011 and his T20, ODI debut in 2010. “Firstly, I would like to thank “Anji” (Mathews),” Chandimal said on Wednesday. “It”s not an easy job as captains in any team so Anji, you have done a great job the last four, five years.
Upul Tharanga has been handed the ODI and T20 captaincy job for Sri Lanka. He captained Sri Lanka in the first match of Champions Trophy 2017 as Mathews was injured and now has been named as the full-time captain for Sri Lanka. His first challenge as a full-time captain would be the five-match ODI Series against India in August. Upul was named as the captain for the Sri Lankan team in the 5 match ODI series against South Africa that took place in South Africa this year.
Sri Lanka might not qualify directly for the World Cup 2019 after the shock 2-3 series loss to Zimbabwe. They are also hunting the coach which Graham Ford left before the Zimbabwe series. It would be a challenge for Tharanga to lead the Sri Lankan team which is struggling at the moment in limited overs format. He has played a total of 27 test matches, 207 ODI’s and 16 T20 matches for Sri Lanka.
Mathews captained Sri Lanka in 34 test matches, 98 ODI’s and 12 T20 matches. He took the role of captain of Sri Lankan team in 2013.
Thank you Mathews for the valient services rendered during this transitional period & being the glue that held Lions together.#ApeKollek pic.twitter.com/GSumIRy62w
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 12, 2017