Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) made a significant shift in their leadership, appointing Dhananjaya de Silva as the new captain for the Test team, replacing Dimuth Karunaratne.
Dhananjaya De Silva is poised to come into the role of captain for the first time in the next one-off test match against Afghanistan in February 2024. The freshly appointed chairman of selectors, Upul Tharanga, confirmed that De Silva will now captain the Sri Lanka test squad. This move implies that Sri Lanka will have unique leaders for each version of international cricket. Kusal Mendis will take on the role of ODI leadership, Wanindu Hasaranga will lead the side in T20Is, while De Silva will coach the group in the lengthier format.
Upul Tharanga also emphasized Sri Lanka’s top-order and fielding shortcomings across formats and said, “All their players are not short of talent, but there is an obvious shortcoming where is consistency where consistency is concerned, and we have already spoken with the coaches concerned regarding sorting out this problem.”
Dimuth Karunaratne, the former captain, led Sri Lanka in 30 test matches, overseeing 12 victories and 12 losses. Notably, under Karunaratne’s captaincy in 2019, Sri Lanka achieved a historic test series win in South Africa, making them the sole Asian team to conquer the Proteas in their own backyard.
The reins of captaincy have now passed to Dhananjaya De Silva, who has accumulated a wealth of experience from 51 test matches in his career. Debuting against Australia at Pallekele Stadium in 2016, he has impressively notched up 3301 runs at an average of 39.77, including 10 test centuries. Dhananjaya’s all-round prowess extends to his spin bowling, having taken 34 test wickets to contribute significantly to the team’s success.
Dhananjaya, with 51 Tests under his belt, is set to step into the role of Sri Lanka’s 18th Test captain. Interestingly, this marks his first experience leading the senior team.
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